Bel Air businessmen Mario and Renato Buontempo are quick to help out when a kids ball team needs a sponsor, an organization needs a donation, a local hero needs honoring or to hold a benefit with a family has a tragedy.
So when a friend of the Griffin-Burkman family from Parkville, which has ties to Harford County and lost five members in a horrific highway collision in Ohio last month, approached Mario Buontempo at his Main Street Tower restaurant asking for help earlier this week, Buontempo was all to happy to lend a hand.
"I used to live in Ohio, and my sister who still lives there says everybody is still talking about this," Buontempo said Thursday. "My heart goes out to this family; what happened is so tragic."
Saturday, from 4 p.m. to 9, Main Street Tower's owners will donate a portion of each dinner tab to the family to help with medical and other expenses. The donation will be from 15 to 20 percent of the check, Buontempo explained. "If a family comes in and spends $100, we will donate $20."
On Dec. 30, Daniel Griffen Jr. and Bethany L. Griffen and their six children were returning from a family holiday visit in Michigan when their minivan was hit head-on by a pickup truck being driven the wrong way on I-280 near Toledo.
The crash killed Mrs. Griffen, 36; Jordan Griffin, 10; Vadie Griffin, 8 weeks; Haley Burkman, 10, and Lacie Burkman, 7. Daniel Griffin and two other children, Sydney Griffin, 8, and Beau Burkman, 8, survived and have since been released from the hospital.
Haley Burkman, Lacie Burkman and Beau Burkman are the children of Mrs. Griffin and Jack Burkman, who lives in Bel Air.
The driver of the pickup truck that caused the crash, Michael Gagnon, 24, of Adrian, Mich., faces multiple counts of vehicular homicide. According to published reports, police said Gagnon's blood alcohol content was more than three times the legal limit.
For further information about Saturday's benefit at Main Street Tower, contact Mario Buontempo at 410-838-8007, ext. 3. The restaurant is at 29 S. Main St. in downtown Bel Air.
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