Crime & Safety
San Jose Barbecue Raises $140,000 for Injured Santa Cruz Paramedic
Pizza My Heart contributes $20,000.
The employer of Bryan Stow, who was severely beaten outside Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles last week, raised $140,000 to pay for his medical expenses at a barbecue fundraiser in San Jose on Wednesday.
American Medical Response hosted the barbecue at its headquarters. The funds raised will go toward helping his family pay his medical bills, said Martine Bustamente, a volunteer coordinator for the event and colleague of Stow's.
Gil Glass, an event organizer and general manager at AMR, said the event drew roughly 3,000-4,000 people, far exceeding his expectations.
Find out what's happening in Santa Cruzwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"It was just an amazing outpouring from the community to come out and support Bryan and his family," Glass said. "Everyone was just incredibly blown away by the show of support."
The money was raised through the sale of food and auctioning of items, which included autographed memorabilia donated by the San Jose Sharks and San Francisco Giants.
Find out what's happening in Santa Cruzwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
With a $20,000 contribution, Pizza My Heart, which was founded in Capitola, was one of the biggest donors.
—Bay City News Service
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.