GoFundMe Sites Nearing $35K After Teen's Tragic Death

POTTSTOWN, PA — Two GoFundMe pages are reaching their combined goals of $35,000 to help the family of Louis Carbajal, 18, with expenses related to a car crash the morning of Aug. 10 in North Coventry Township. The young man died a week later, leaving the Spring-Ford community grieving a wrestler who was heading to college this fall.

Shane Standhardt of Royersford organized a GoFundMe fundraiser with a goal of $25,000. The fund to date has brought in $23,368 from 630 donors. He set up the fund on Aug. 10, right after his friend's accident, but since Carbajal's death Aug. 17, Standhardt said the funds will go to pay funeral expenses, and help the family with other incurred expenses.

"Since he has passed away on the 17th, we've been raising money to help fund his funeral. I've been like brothers with him since I was in 8th grade and he's always helped me and I always helped him out," Standhardt said today. "So I'm doing as much as I can to help make sure this won't bankrupt or be any more traumatizing for his family than it has to be."

Standhardt said he is also making up T-shirts to help raise more funds.

Brian Brown, also of Royersford, organized another fundraiser on GoFundMe, with a goal of raising $10,000. The fund is nearing its goal, with $9,706 raised from 135 donors as of Thursday. One anonymous donor contributed $3,000 to Brown's GoFundMe.

Brown said he created the GoFundMe on Aug. 10, immediately after Louis Carbajal's father, Brown's co-worker, left work in a hurry. The man had learned his 18-year-old son was in a serious accident that morning in Upper Providence Township, along with three other young men.

Brown explained the purpose of the fund that morning. "This morning our dear friend Louie was a passenger in a very bad car accident. Louie is and will always be the most amazing human being on this planet. He constantly supports his friends/ family in anything they do, so this is an opportunity to show our gratitude towards Louie and his family. I work with Louie's father and this morning some of the guys we work with saw him run out of the building as fast as he could to get to his son. Any amount is helpful, Thank you! Louie Carbajal we love you kid!"

"Louie was that spark in room that nobody could touch. He was there for not only myself but a ton of his other friends when we needed it. Lou displayed drive in ones self that I haven’t seen before. Words can't even describe how many of us feel about this unfortunate situation," Brown said this week.

Most of the donations on Standhardt's page were $100 or less, though three contributors gave $500, and several contributed more than $100.

The GoFundMe page reads, "Anyone who had met Louie knows how great he is and how much everyone loves him." The fund's statement said there were "going to (be) many medical obligations. Please if anyone has anything to help ... his family please give anything. Even a dollar is enough. prayers to Lou."

Carbajal, a 2020 graduate of Spring-Ford High School, had been planning to attend Kutztown University this fall to major in special education. Carbajal wrestled on the Spring-Ford team in the 195 and 220-pound weight classes, earning a 30-15 record last season. In District 1-AAA North and South East AAA Regional tournaments, he was runner-up in the 195 weight class.

Also in the one-car accident were three Owen J. Roberts High School recent graduates. All four were treated at Reading Hospital after the crash.

"Louie was known as a vibrant, strong, loving, and joyful young man. He was hardworking and never shied away from a challenge, both in the classroom and on the wrestling mat," the school said in a statement.

The GoFundMe pages can be accessed here, and here.

The Spring-Ford Area High School posted a honorary statement on Facebook that includes resources for helping young people handle grief.