Gianna Ascencio's death has brought a Fleming Island community together and led them to a car wash to raise money for the family.
“The community is out here in droves,” said Tom Lewnes, a Fleming Island High School instructor.
Fleming Island High School students and parents washed nearly 400 cars in about eight hours.
Fourteen-year-old Gianna was killed Thursday morning while walking to her bus stop.
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“She was the most amazing person ever. She was sweet, caring, she'd talk to you when you were down,” said Sophia Bertolini, a friend.
Sophia said it's been a rough a couple days without her friend, so she felt the car wash would help ease the pain.
https://twitter.com/BrittanyANjax/status/561571188301131778
“I wanted to do something to help out her family,” Sophia said. “Losing someone is very, very hard.”
Not only did people get their cars washed, many donated money to this (can readers see "this box?) boxand every penny goes to the family.
“That tells you a whole lot how it affected the community,” Lewnes said.
Lewnes said this single car wash raised more than $16,000.
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Karen Minor, a driver who came to the car wash, was touched by the tragedy.
“It's touched everybody, even the people that didn't know the young lady. As a parent, you know, nobody should ever go through this,” Minor said.