Community supports fundraiser to place benches at school bus stops

More than one month after an 8-year-old girl was killed in a hit-and-run crash at her bus stop, the driver involved has not been arrested. But what has happened is community-wide support for her family and all families with children who wait for the school bus every morning. Supporters joined together to continue their focus on safety improvements at these stops.

Lights for Layla hosted a fundraiser at Dixie Roadhouse in south Cape Coral Saturday, where community members gathered to raise money to place benches at school bus stops throughout Lee County.

“It’s heartwarming; it’s amazing,” Randi Romanov said. “I was born and raised here 29 years. I’ve never seen the community come together like this ever.”

On Friday, Cape Coral Rotary Club met with the city, where they hope to put in 200 benches at the most dangerous stops in Cape Coral.

The organizers of Lights for Layla said it’s important to continue having fundraisers in honor of Layla Aiken, who died in a hit-and run crash in Cape Coral.

“I just want to say thank you to Dixie, every single vendor that has helped us and everyone that is coming out here, today,” Jade Morton said at the event. “Just a $5 donation, you can spend that on a soda … anything like that means the world to us.”