HILLSBOROUGH: Community pitching in to help injured businessman

By Audrey Levine, Staff Writer
   To assist the family of a Montgomery resident, and former Hillsborough business owner, who suffered major head trauma in a March ATV accident, local residents and businesses are donating food, money and time.
   John Sala, former owner of Hillsborough Landscape Supply, has been in critical, but stable, condition at Morristown Memorial Hospital since March 22, when an ATV rolled over onto him during a family gathering in Perryville.
   ”He is still in the Intensive Care Unit now,” said Mary Grosso, a friend of the Sala family, who is assisting with donations being made to the family. She said Mr. Sala is currently on a ventilator, and is in a drug-induced coma. “There was brain swelling, but it is under control now. The swelling is down to a six, and anything under 10 is okay.”
   At this point, Ms. Grosso said, doctors have not been able to get a proper MRI of Mr. Sala’s head, and are basing their assessments off CAT scans that have shown he has a lot of brain activity.
   ”They are hopeful he will make a full recovery,” she said.
   On top of this, Ms. Grosso said, the family was currently in the process of selling Hillsborough Landscape Supply because of economic problems. She said the family was in the process of finalizing a contract to sell the business when the accident occurred.
   Several Hillsborough businesses have stepped up to aid the Sala family – which now has only Mr. Sala’s wife, Gigi, making money as a full time aid in the Montgomery Township School District, while caring for their three boys, ages three, six and 10 – including Culinary Creations, which is donating 10 free meals to the family, and Amwell Auto Body, which has donated money to the family.
   Other businesses and organizations that are assisting the family include Plaza Deli, Triangle Printing, Field of Green Landscaping, Montgomery Township Police Department and Montgomery Township teachers and staff.
   In addition, Ms. Grosso said, a Web site was designed to update people on Mr. Sala’s progress, and a recently created group called “All John’s Friends” is organizing various fundraisers – such as auctions and family days – with proceeds going to the family.
   The fundraiser dates and schedules have not been finalized yet.
   According to Ms. Grosso, they are accepting monetary donations, with checks made out to “Gigi Sala” and the word “Donation” in the memo of the check. In addition, she said, they are also accepting gift cards to such places as Costco, Sam’s Club, Wal-Mart, Valero Gas Station, Stop & Shop, McDonalds, Friendly’s and other local restaurants in the Montgomery area.
   Ms. Grosso said Ms. Sala has expressed gratitude over the amount of support shown for her family over the past month.
   ”Gigi said she could never repay everyone for what they have done,” Ms. Grosso said. “It makes people feel good to give.”
   For more information on Mr. Sala’s condition, visit the “All John’s Friends” Web site at alljohnsfriends.com. The organization can also be reached by calling 908-359-5655.
   To sign up to provide a meal for the Sala Family, visit foodtidings.com.
   Donations can be mailed to All John’s Friends, c/o Sala Family, P.O Box 204, Skillman, NJ 08558.
   The family’s attorney is also collecting donations, and checks, with “Sala Family Donation” in the memo, can be sent to William Bunting Trust Account, 245 Nassau Street, Princeton, NJ 08540.