Community Raises Over $5,000 for Child’s Funeral

The parents of a 9-year-old Oxnard girl who bravely fought leukemia before dying Monday have raised enough money to have her buried in their hometown in central Mexico.

People touched by Sarahi Cuecuecha’s two-year struggle against the blood disease have donated more than the $3,200 the family needed for the funeral and to ship the body home.

“To be honest, I was surprised by the tremendous outpouring of support and generosity,” said Oxnard Elementary School District Supt. Richard Duarte. “I was overjoyed at the feeling that everyone wanted to help.”

The district’s educational foundation headed the brief fund-raising effort that had generated more than $5,000 in contributions by Friday. Donations ranged from $30 by Sarahi’s classmates and $400 by Pictsweet farm workers to $800 by school district officials. Three people have offered to match the total of all donations, Duarte said.

Other donations included change collected from children’s savings and $500 from Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles, where Sarahi had been treated before she fell gravely ill at home Sunday.

The girl’s family is grateful for the outpouring of kindness, said Sarahi’s aunt, Marcela Vega. “This is a very difficult time for them, and I can’t even imagine how much they’re hurting,” Vega said. “But [the mother] feels very grateful. She is thankful so many people helped out.”

Family, friends, teachers and schoolmates were expected to say a rosary Friday evening before the child’s body is transported Saturday to the village of Panzacola north of Mexico City, Vega said.