FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Owners Juan Alberto Rey and Taylor McEntee have been running Margaret's food truck in Fayetteville since 2021. The name comes from Juan's mother's name, Margarita. Recently, their world has been turned upside down.
"I was just driving home, we had a green light, and the next thing I knew, I was just getting ran into by somebody else," Rey said. "That's all I really remember. It just happened so quickly."
Rey said he was driving the food trailer in Farmington when he was hit head-on. He says he's just grateful to walk away from the crash uninjured.
"I am super grateful to just as soon as it happened, to be able to walk out of the car. Because most people, when a wreck like that happens, they're not able to get out of the car just like that. So very, very thankful I was wearing my seatbelt and their airbags deployed and stuff," he said.
Rey and McEntee say they're waiting on insurance to help them financially. In the meantime, they'll have to find a way to make ends meet.
"We're kind of just waiting for the other person's insurance to deal with everything," McEntee said. "Just today, we finally got our stuff moved out of a tow yard."
McEntee said they were almost done paying off a business loan when the crash happened.
"That's kind of why we started the GoFundMe, and that was super successful," she said.
Their goal was to raise $10,000. Shortly after making the GoFundMe page, that goal was achieved.
"We pretty much reached the goal in one day, and people are still donating, which is awesome," McEntee said.
To the owners, the community's support means everything.
"It's pretty heartwarming, honestly," Rey said. "I didn't know I had such a big following. I feel so loved. It's awesome."
In the midst of their setback, there's always a silver lining. In Rey and McEntee's case, they gained a new furry friend who snuck into their trailer at the junkyard.
"After a couple of days, we went to get whatever we could out of the trailer and found this cat," Rey said. "I just couldn't leave him in the trailer because he was by himself and he's a pretty small kitten."
Similar to the Northwest Arkansas community, the kitten also found the food at Margaret's to be irresistible.
"We named him Queso because there was queso everywhere, and I think that's what attracted him to the scene," McEntee said.
The timeline of when Margaret's food truck will be up and running again is uncertain. For right now, the owners are taking each day one at a time.
"The main important thing is nobody's like seriously injured, including the other driver and myself," he said. "You can't control life. Just got to roll with it. Make the best of it."
When they are ready to reopen, they are looking forward to serving the community again.
"Thank you to the entire community," Rey said. "It's honestly a pleasure to serve y'all, and I can't wait to give back and serve you all good food."
If you would like to donate to their GoFundMe, the link is available here.
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