OCC Decision : Family of Injured Man to Get Funds

After raising more than $32,000 to aid the family of a Mexican man who was critically injured while trying to smuggle himself into the United States, the Orange Coast College Foundation voted Thursday to turn the money over to the family and gradually remove itself from its fund-raising role.

Meeting at the Costa Mesa college early Thursday, the foundation’s board of directors said it would be up to the family to decide how to spend the money. A total of $32,301 has been collected in the two weeks since a story on Juan Jose Buenrostro appeared in The Times and then on a Los Angeles television station.

Buenrostro, 31, lost his left arm in the accident in December and remains in a coma. He had strapped himself under an Orange Coast College school bus in Tijuana in an attempt to sneak across the border in search of work. He was injured when his arm became entangled in the drive shaft and he fell out from under the vehicle when the bus pulled into a Carlsbad parking lot.

After being treated in San Diego, Buenrostro was sent back to Tijuana, where he is staying at his mother’s house. His wife, Esther Esquivel de Buenrostro, and his four children are staying in San Diego with relatives.

Although Orange Coast College took no responsibility for the accident, the foundation set up a fund in the Buenrostro family’s name when donations came pouring in.

Foundation directors said Thursday, however, that while the undertaking was worthwhile, it was not proper for the foundation to act as a fund-raiser and administrator for the family. The money, they said, should be turned over to the family as soon as possible.

“It really is not in the purview of the foundation to do this,” said Norma Hertzog-Wagner, who co-chairs the foundation. “I have some real problems with our involvement. It can open up a can of worms.”

Doug Bennett, the foundation’s executive director, said he did not anticipate the response when he announced formation of the fund.

“I have one secretary and she has been deluged with work,” he said. “We have had more than 700 donations. When I said we would set up this account, I figured we might get $2,000. I never dreamed it would turn into this.”

Bennett said donations ranged from $1 to $2,000 and came from across Southern California, Mexico and the East Coast.

Bennett said Pat Scarfone, a Spanish professor at the community college, and Luana Shapiro, Spanish Club president, would talk with the Buenrostro family to determine how it wants to receive the money--in one lump sum payment or in increments.

“It will be up to them,” said Scarfone, who was on the bus the day Buenrostro was injured. “They don’t know how long Juan will live or how long the money will last, but they are all responsible people and they won’t squander it.”