Plans for a major fundraiser for the Gill Family, who lost one daughter and had another daughter seriously injured by a runaway car in a Yonkers crash, are being made.

Thousands of dollars have already been donated in a bid to alleviate the mounting costs that face the Gill family who only recently moved back to the U.S. from their native Leitrim.

Kalie Gill (15) was killed and her 12 year old sister Lindsey was severely injured when the car driven by schoolteacher Roseanne Piccirilli smashed into them during a church festival held in Coyne Park in Yonkers.

Earlier reports that Piccirilli had a heart attack have now been discounted but police have refused to say whether she will be charged with any crime.

Medical expenses for Lindsey who is currently in intensive care in Jacobi Hospital are expected to be huge.

At press time, several individuals were planning to organize a fundraising benefit.

Residents of the Irish community in the Bronx and Yonkers continue to offer their condolences and remorse for the family.

Oliver Charles, an Irish father-of-four and Yonkers resident, knows that everyone is “praying for them, and we just wish to help them and support them in any way we can.
 
“I remember when I first heard the news, I was in utter shock. The first thing I thought of was that it could have been my daughter, because they hang out together. Thank God she had stuff to do that night. I can’t remember hugging them as hard when I got back to the house.”
 
Kathleen Carty, a native of County Leitrim, says, “The [Gill] family has two beautiful kids. My thoughts and prayers go out to them. They need all the prayers that they can get at this difficult time.”
 
Michelle Mullen, an Irish-American Bronx resident, remembers being “absolutely heartbroken. I was crying when I heard. At work the next morning, I found it was the Gill family. It was chaos the next morning with all the different versions of stories.
 
“The week before, I had to attend the funeral for 17-year-old Matt Wallace. So, that makes two tragic losses in two weeks. If that was my sister, I’d feel as though a piece of me was missing.”
 
Jean Gresta, an Irish-American mother-of-two and Bronx resident, says, “Our thoughts and prayers and love go out to the family. If there’s something to be done, I hope that we can all get together and do it.”
 
Tom Byrne, an Irish American Bronx resident, says, “I feel deep remorse for the family that went through that, especially with someone so young.
 
”As far as the future is concerned, I always think back to a line from author Lemony Snicket: ‘It is like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark, and thinking there is one more stair than there is. Your foot falls down, through the air, and there is a sickly moment of dark surprise as you try to readjust the way you thought of things.’”
 
An anonymous source from the school that Lindsey attends remembers a girl “who always walks around school with a smile on her face. And in the coming weeks, in the face of insufferable tragedy, the P.S. 19 [on Katonah Avenue in the Bronx] community wishes her and her family the very best.”
 
If you would like to contribute, please visit businesses, such as The Butcher’s Fancy on McLean Avenue or The Rambling House on Katonah Ave., to donate.


A tribute video posted on YouTube for Kalie: