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Golden community unites to fund memorial bench

When Jamie Florence started a fundraiser, she never thought she would see the support she got.
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When Jamie Florence started a fundraiser on Go Fund Me, she never thought she would see the amount of support she received.

The plan was to raise enough money to put a memorial bench at the skatepark to pay tribute to her friends. The names that would be put on the bench are John Lebessis, Cody Shusheski, Sandra Younie and Jordan Hood, four friends who passed away within the last nine years. The cost for a bench with four names was $1300. That’s when she started the Go Fund Me page.

Word quickly spread through the community and in just 15 hours, she had already raised more than half of the $1300 goal. 28 hours after starting the page, $2100 had been raised which was more than $800 of the asking goal.

“I am so proud of the community and how they came together to make this possible,” Florence said. “It is because of the town that we were able to do this for our friends.”

With the extra $800, Florence and her friends held a memorial barbecue on July 23 for whomever wanted to come. At the barbecue the bench was revealed for the first time with the cutting of the ribbon.

Florence said the barbecue was a success and thanked the community for all the support.

“I am just so proud of our little town and would like for them to know it,” Florence said