MURPHY CANYON - San Diegans are stepping up to help families who lost their cars in last Thursday's deadly plane crash in Murphy Canyon. Local groups are coming forward to make sure victims don't lose their transportation.
$50,000 is the goal that local organizations are trying to raise to help these families.
At the end of Santo Road near the Murphy Canyon neighborhood is a lot filled with cars burnt to a crisp hit when a plane crashed into homes and cars on Thursday morning.
Just last week, families are figuring out what to do next including Regenia Beiker whose home and car were hit by the plane.
"Having any emergency set aside, I didn't know what to grab. Just got my kids and we tried to get out" said Beiker last week. "Thanks to my community, we were able to make it to safety."
While remnants of the cars are at the lot, their owners are figuring out how to get from one location to the next and that's where local organizations are partnering to help.
"If we can alleviate some of that stress, a family going through a loss of a car possibly being upside down, maybe not having the right insurance, and all of a sudden, now they're stuck with a bill of thousands and thousands of dollars," said Brian Henry, the president of the San Diego Nice Guys. "That's our goal. We both step in, relieve the stress, let them move and recover and move forward as seemlessly as possible."
Henry is working with Mount Soledad National Veterans Memorial and the Armed Services YMCA to raise thousands of dollars for these families.
Neil O'Connell is the executive director of Mount Soledad National Veterans Memorial and said the accident hits close to his heart.
"I've been to these houses and backyards here in my early years as a marine, having family barbecues with friends who reside here," said O'Connell. "My son-in-law and his dad lived here years ago. We've had a lot of friends who've lived on these same exact streets."
The money raised will go to the Armed Services YMCA just across the street from Murphy Canyon. They'll distribute the funds to families.
"Working with Mount Soledad, we're working to see if we can get that gap coverage to make it hurt a little bit less," said Frank Martin, the executive director of the Armed Services YMCA.
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