After spending the night blissfully celebrating my best friend's marriage as his best man, my roommate, my daughter (the flower girl) and I left the wedding venue to drive back to our lodging for the night to get a good night sleep in advance of the long 6+ hour drive back to our home in Philadelphia in the next morning.

We never could have predicted what we were walking out to. In fact, when we first saw the parked silver car who's front bumper had been brutally ripped off and ran over, it took a minute before it registered that the car we were looking at was our own.

It wasn't until somebody asked me, "Is that your car?" that everything clicked in to place. Yes, that was my car.

Then, from beside me, my daughter's voice in a desperate, terrified wail saying, "But...how will we get home?" I had no words. I had no idea. I dropped down to my knee, took her in my arms, and said that we would figure it out. This was scary. It was okay to be scared, I was scared, too. The most important thing was that we were safe.

I was informed that someone who was leaving the venue had done this to my car on her way out of her parking spot beside me. There were at least a dozen witnesses, and security footage of it happening. The event staff was informed and they were able to contact the driver, who had been one of the servers working with the catering company. They implored her to return and exchange information with me.

When she came back, she immediately took responsibility for the accident, apologized, insisted that she had no idea how badly she had damaged the car, and provided me with her name, phone number, license plate number. When I asked for her insurance information, she insisted that she was insured with Progressive but didn't have the policy # handy. She assured me she could send it to me when she arrived home. Seeing as I had all the other information, witnesses, and video evidence, I agreed to this and let her know I would need the information ASAP to start the claim.

The venue owner offered to let me keep my car there overnight and call for the tow truck in the morning, and we got a ride back to where were staying with the wedding's Officiant.

That night, I may have gotten an hour or two of sleep, if that. I was busy trying to contact everyone and anyone to help us figure out what to do next. Most urgently, trying to figure out how to get back to Philly without our car.

Thanks to the collaboration of several other wedding guests in a highly coordinated effort, I was able to get back to the venue in the morning and call the tow truck with my AAA coverage. We were also able to secure a ride back for us and a separate ride back for our luggage. I am eternally grateful for everyone who helped us out in that 24 hour period, and I genuinely don't know what we would have done without that support.

Over the next few days, I called the Collision center and Progressive every single day, impatiently awaiting any update on the car or coverage. I was told repeatedly that they were just working on securing the coverage, and I would hear back soon. I told them I would need a vehicle to get around, and they said that wouldn't be an issue because the other person's insurance would cover it, but I would need to wait until the claim was finalized. Otherwise, I could get the rental sooner if I paid out of pocket (at the steeply discounted Progressive rate) and then would be reimbursed once the claim was situated.

Now, over 2 weeks later, I have been informed that the other driver actually did not have insurance at the time of the accident, she purchased her policy after the fact.

Meaning the claim will need to go through MY collision insurance, and I will need to pay the $2,500 deductible to get my car back, plus three weeks of the rental car (~$800 total), plus the gas and tolls to drive another 6 hours to Lynchburg to pick the car up when it's done, and another 6 hours back to Philly. Plus, time off work since the Collision center is *only* open on weekdays.

Yes, my deductible is super high- I am a new driver (got my license just over a year ago) and I live in the city of Philadelphia. I pay almost $300/month for my insurance and that's still my deductible.

No, I have no other option but to keep the rental because I am a single parent who works full time & is in grad school, plus I'm currently in the middle of the run of a play I've been rehearsing for the last few months. If I hadn't ever had the car, I would have structured my life very differently, but as it is right now, I literally can not function without a car.

Now, insurance will try to recover the money for the deductible and the rental from the other driver through arbitration, but there's no guarantee that will ever come through, and even if it did, it wont cover the time/tolls/gas/labor/etc that also totals up. I could (and probably will) pursue a civil case at some point, but again, that takes time & effort and there's still no guarantee it will materially benefit me in any way.

I'm trying to raise the necessary funds to cover:

My deductible - $2,500

The rental - $800

Round trip gas/tolls/incidentals - $200

If (and that's a VERY big if) I'm able to get any of this money recovered through insurance arbitration or civil litigation, I will equitably redistribute it either back to folks who donated or forward to other mutual aids. If you donate, please let me know what you prefer if that is the case.

I realize this is a huge ask, and if I had literally any other option I would take it. Unfortunately, the car is not worth as much as I still owe on it, and it's not damaged enough to be "totaled".

Please know you have my deepest appreciation, even for just reading through this, and if you're able to donate or even just share this fundraiser in your networks, it would mean the world to me.

From the bottom, top, middle, and sides of my heart- Thank you.