Community extends support to families after fatal Shelby Co. crash

SHELBY COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) — After three teenage girls died in a UTV crash in Shelby County earlier this week, the community is coming together to offer support and donations.

The accident happened Wednesday night when the three girls driving in a UTV collided with a grain hauler . They’ve been identified as Edie Wittenberg from Strasburg, Karly Wetherall from Stewardson and Sienna Bostedo from Mode. All three were incoming freshmen in the Stewardson-Strasburg Schools district.

After releasing an initial statement on Facebook, the district said there has been a massive outreach from the community to offer donations. Donations are not being requested at this time, but officials said it is understandable that people and businesses want to give their support.

Their plan right now is to allow for the girls’ families to dictate where donations will go and for donations to be collected at their services. Anyone who won’t be attending those services can still drop their donations off at the school.

In addition, a local busness is also stepping up to provide support. Crazy 8’s BBQ in Casey announced via their Facebook page that they will be running a “Lemon Shake Up” stand at EffingHAM-Jam this weekend. The stand will be operated by the Mattoon Pride Gilbert 14U softball team and all proceeds will be shared with the girls’ families.

People who are unable to make it to HAM-JAM but who still want to contribute can send money through Venmo to @bgilbert221.

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