Community comes together to help those affected by recent accident

Everywhere you turn it seems you’ll find signs of love and support for all those who were impacted by the Nov. 14 Tusky Valley bus accident. And the signs stretch from Ohio all the way to Florida and California.

The accident on I-70 in Licking County stole the lives of three students, a teacher and two chaperones. Another 18 students were injured, with one student and the charter bus driver requiring hospitalization and surgeries.

Whenever events like this occur, human beings come together to share the grief and make the burden a little easier to bear. To acknowledge all those who came together to support the families and the school would require reams of paper. There are simply too many, but here are just a few.

Pray for Tusky Valley

One of the first companies to reach out to the community was Lightning Signs in New Philadelphia. By afternoon on the day of the accident, the company’s mobile sign could be seen winding its way through the streets of Tusky Valley country.

After that, owner Cris Call decided to create yard signs bearing the phrase and offer them to the public by donation only. Any funds raised would go to the families.

“I thought it would be really cool if we could collect $5,000 over a few weeks,” he said. “We did that the first day, and the second day we did over $16,000.”

At the end of one week, more than 4,000 signs had been distributed and more than $50,000 raised.

“I want to thank all my employees for what they did,” Call said. “The way they stepped up, staying late and never complaining, and the way the community came together, I get choked up talking about it.”

Call said he has seen the signs, not just in Tusky Valley territory, but also in other places. “I’ve seen them in places like Carrollton and Bowerston. We’ve even shipped some to California and Florida. I never dreamed it would get this big, but I’m so glad it did.”

Big-hearted businesses

A number of local businesses have found ways to chip in as well. In Bolivar the owner of Haven Shala Yoga Studio started a GoFundMe account almost immediately, which has now been merged with the TVStrong fund.

The Towpath Tavern raised more than $5,000 through sales of 300 hand-painted Christmas ornaments, and the Bolivar Army-Navy, Bolivar Pizza, Bolivar Subway and Sublime Smoke all pitched in to raise funds.

One person can make a difference

When Mike Gross heard what happened, he sprang into action. The Bolivar resident and sportsman decided to hold a gun raffle to benefit injured student Brynn Goedel and her family as they face mounting medical bills.

Ticket sales were so successful the first day that Vaughn Sears, a friend of Gross, purchased a second gun so they could pull two winners out of the hat.

“I never met Brynn or her family, but we’ve got to start taking care of people we don’t know,” Gross said.

Plans are in place to deliver a gift basket to the Goedels containing raffle proceeds of $21,585, some girlie items and all of the raffle tickets. “I want her to see the names of all the people who bought tickets,” Gross said. “I want people to know there are still good folks out there.”

Stephen Strawn, a former Bolivar resident and Air Force veteran, and Josh Keane, Strawn’s friend and an Army veteran, organized a memorial run/walk held on the Tusky Valley track.

“The idea was to have people run or walk either six laps or 6 miles, one to honor each of the six victims,” Strawn said.

Strawn chose to start the event at 8:52 a.m., the time the accident occurred, and end it six hours later. Approximately 100 people participated in the event, which also served as a blood drive.

More than 20 units of blood were donated along with $1,050 in cash, which will be given to the TVStrong fund and earmarked for the Goedel family.

On Dec. 11 Mike Penso and Jody Engstrom, who helped with the event, presented a Tusky Valley flag to the board of education bearing the signatures of those who participated in the event.

Multitudes of others have found individual ways to help raise funds by selling everything from handmade car air fresheners and T-shirts to hand-painted duffel bags and fashion headbands.

TV colors shine everywhere

In the days and weeks since the accident, people around the state and across the nation have felt moved to honor Tusky Valley in some way. Numerous schools and colleges donned the red and black Tusky Valley colors and posted photos on social media.

The Amherst Marching Comets learned the TV Fight Song, and all 400 members of the Band Directors Marching Band in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade wore black ribbons attached to pins they had made in honor of a New York high school band involved in a charter bus accident in September.

“The outpouring of love and support is overwhelming,” said Dr. Derek Varansky, superintendent of Tusky Valley Schools. “Whether near or far, schools, organizations, businesses and individuals have sent cards and supplies, shared recordings of our alma mater, dressed in red and black, and participated in fundraisers. We will be forever thankful for them uplifting and sustaining us on some of our darkest days.”

Donations can be made to the TVStrong fund at First Federal Community Bank in Dover or online at www.trojanfoundation.org.