Family of Brothers Killed in Crash Seeks Donations for Funeral, Medical Costs

The Reynaga-Reyes family of Redwood City is seeking donations to help cover the mounting bills associated with the Jan. 27 crash that killed two of their sons and put a third in serious condition in the hospital.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, three of the family's five sons attended a party thrown by their uncle in San Mateo that night. Just after 9:30 p.m., they got into a car with two others - 21-year-old driver Juan Pablo Zaragoza Hernandez of San Mateo, who was killed, and a fifth man, who sustained only minor injuries - and headed out on southbound Highway 92.

For reasons still unknown, the car veered off the road near the Foster City Boulevard exit and crashed into a guardrail. The two youngest brothers - Erik, 12, a seventh-grader at Selby Lane in Atherton, and Aldo, 16, a junior at Gateway Center School in San Mateo - were killed, and their older brother, Jesus, 18, remains in serious condition at Stanford Hospital.

Now, Moises and Marina Reynaga, the boys' parents, are struggling to keep up with the bills associated with the burial and funerals for Erik and Aldo, and the medical bills for Jesus' hospital care.

Moises works as a gardener. The San Jose Mercury indicates the family came to the United States from Mexico in the 1990s, and that three of their five children were born here.

Moises and Marina reportedly said they did not know the driver of the car.

A RedwoodCity-Woodside Patch reader, Gwendolyn Spencer, posted on our Facebook page this week letting us know about a memorial fund recently set up to help collect donations for the family.

"Please donate to help this hard-working family to get back up on their feet and to regain their optimism and trust in a warm, caring, nurturing world, despite the tragic and difficult path they journey," said an online appeal for help.

The fund, operated through Fundly.com, estimates the family's costs from the crash at around $104,000 currently. As of Thursday morning, $8,935 had been collected through the site. Fundly.com takes a 7.9 percent fee from donations.

Donations can also be made to the Reynaga-Reyes Memorial Fund at any Wells Fargo bank, to account No. 2886346168. Money can be put into the account in person, by e-mail or through a wire transfer. 

Visit the Fundly.com site at http://fundly.com/reynaga-reyes-memorial-fund.

Did you know the Reynaga-Reyes brothers or their family? Share your memories in the comments below.

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