High School Students Raise Money for Family of Killed Classmate

Former JEB Stuart student killed in crash

Students at JEB Stuart High School in Fairfax County, Va., have come together to deal with a tragic situation.

After a classmate was killed in a crash, the school is pitching in to give his family much-needed help.

Carlos Hernandez was riding in a car police believe had been speeding, its driver possibly drunk, when it crashed into a tree on Graham Road. Hernandez wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and was thrown from the car, police said. The 18-year-old died in a hospital four days later.

When longtime friend Alec Ross wore a T-shirt bearing the image of 18-year-old Hernandez to a candlelight vigil, it quickly filled with signatures from dozens of JEB Stuart students. The students also learned Carlos Hernandez’s family couldn’t afford to hold services or bury their loved one.

“That’s where I got my idea to make T-shirts and sell them,” Ross said.

Students have thrown their energy in to a fundraising drive. At school, they set up every day in the lunchroom, collecting cash, selling T-shirts and holding bake sales.

A website was created to collect contributions, too.

So far, they’ve raised about $1,000 at school and $2,500 online.

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