Community providing financial support to family of boy killed in Oxnard crash
It has been four days since the fatal accident in Oxnard that killed an 8-year-old boy while he was walking to school. Now the community is stepping up and providing financial help to the family who lost so much.
Many from the community stopped by the memorial site Thursday to leave flowers, say a prayer, and shed a tear for Alexander Vasquez. The 8-year-old was struck and killed by a van Monday morning while he was walking to school.
The news of a parent losing a child was tough for the community.
“I just felt compelled to help, even though I do not know the family,” said Martha Martinez-Bravo.
Martinez-Bravo is a mother of three from Camarillo. When she heard what happened, she immediately wanted to help.
“When I heard about this story, it just impacted me because I, too, am a mother, and I just can’t imagine not being able to hold children,” said Martinez-Bravo. “I know that these parents will not be able to hold their baby again. I just reached out to my friends and most of them are local mothers in my community and I reached out to them to provide direct donations to the family.”
Within 24 hours Martinez-Bravo was able to collect more than $1,000.
“My kids and I, we decided to grab some groceries and bring a bag to the family,” said Martinez-Bravo. “We know the family is in need and the last thing that they are going to be thinking about is cooking or grocery shopping, so we just wanted to provide that in addition to bringing them the donation that we collected.”
And it doesn’t stop there.
A GoFundMe page was created for the Vasquez family. Within two days it raised more than $12,000.
“When I met with the parents yesterday, as you can imagine, they are extremely traumatized and heartbroken,” said Martinez-Bravo. “They just wanted to thank everyone who had been helping out even if they do not know the family.”
Alex was walking to school with his neighbor, Lucia Navarro, and her 9-year-old daughter Millie. The three were hit by a van driven by a 17-year-old girl. Oxnard police say Lucia is in critical condition.
“She became stable at some point, but now we understand that she has some brain hemorrhaging, so she is not doing very well,” said Martinez-Bravo.
The daughter, Millie, is expected to make a full recovery.
“I think the world will be a better place if we would all help in some way,” said Martinez-Bravo.
If you would like to donate to the Vasquez or Navarro family click on the link below.
Donations for Alexander Vasquez.
KEYT 2019
