The Salons by JC Hurricane Relief Fund has raised $14,000 to help salon suite owners get back on their feet after hurricanes landed in both Texas and Florida just 15 days apart.

What began as a GoFundMe campaign to assist Texas salon suite owners whose homes were in the path of Hurricane Harvey was quickly extended to include members of the Salons by JC Florida family, who were affected by Hurricane Irma. By adding corporate matching funds, Salons by JC was able to distribute all the proceeds quickly, so that the suite owners could get back on their feet as soon as possible.

“This was truly an unprecedented disaster”, stated Steve Griffey, Salons by JC President. “We bounced several ides around and came up with a concrete strategy to assist everyone that was affected by both storms”.

Now, twenty-three Salons by JC suite owners, who lost everything from the cars they needed to get to work to use of their homes, have each received a check for $600.

In photo: Ramzan Panjwani, Salons by JC Houston Champions Willowbrook owner and recipients

Jeff Ruszkowski, who owns the Houston-West University Salons by JC franchise says that five of his tenants were directly affected and that when they received their checks, their reactions included surprise, thankfulness and more than a few tears.

In photo: Jeff Ruszkowski, Salons by JC Houston West University owner and recipients

“They were overwhelmed and grateful that Salons by JC would reach out to help them like that,” said Ruszkowski, who distributed the corporate checks to his affected tenants. “Salon suite owners are incredibly hard-working people who sometimes work pay check to pay check, and for many, their businesses were also disrupted because their clients’ lives were in turmoil.”

In photo: Lisa Bayard, Salons by JC Naples owner and recipient

Now, all of the affected Salons by JC suite renters are getting back to work, putting their lives together and making up for lost revenue.

In photo: Quinton McLeod, Salons by JC Pearland Town Center owner and recipients

“Salons by JC would like to thank all the franchisees, salon suite owners, their clients and our vendors for contributing to the campaign,” said Drew Johnston, VP of Operations for Salons by JC. “Without the support of our entire community, we would have never been able to directly help our salon suite owners.”