Hundreds of people turned out to help the family of eight-year-old Grace Fitzwater of Kinmundy pay final expenses on Saturday at the Marion County Fairgrounds.
Grace died in May at a St. Louis Hospital as a result of injuries sustained when she fell from a tree she often climbed behind her home.
About 20 people combined efforts to put on the event according to one of the organizers Abbie Hewkin of Salem.
“There was a group of us at end of June who decided to get together and put together a benefit to help raise money to cover all of the costs,” Hewkin said. “We have a cake walk, we’ve got bouncy houses, homemade ice cream, a meal, two DJs, face painting, a silent auction, a live auction. There are all kinds of events and things to do for everybody.”
And the turnout was greater than anticipated according to Hannah Shufeldt of Salem.
“We planned for 500 and I think we went through that, so I’m going to say 700 to 900, easy,” Shufeldt said.
Grace’s parents were among those in attendance. Jesse Fitzwater was overwhelmed.
“I can’t even explain how much everybody’s done, everybody that’s been there,” he said. “We didn’t expect any of this and had no idea what any of this was going to be like. We don’t have social media, so when we came here, we were just mind-blown by it.”
His wife Emilee shared the same thoughts.
“It’s very humbling, and we’re just so grateful,” she said. “There aren’t enough words that we could say to really express our gratitude.”
A candlelight walk and other activities were held earlier to support the family.
