A tragic car accident left one Penn State student dead and another six hospitalized on Sunday.
The seven students, members of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority and Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, were returning from a THON canning trip.
The single-car accident occurred on the Pennsylvania Turnpike near King of Prussia as the car headed westbound, and Vitalya “Tally” Sepot was killed as the vehicle overturned.
Just one day after the accident, alumnae of Alpha Chi Omega, which was Sepot’s sorority, formed a GoFundMe page to raise money for her family and the sorority chapter.
“As alumni of this chapter, we continue to ‘Live In The Bond’ to come together to support the families of those who have joined our sisterhood and our current members,” the page said. “The Alumni of Alpha Chi Omega are looking to raise our goal of $1,000 to gift our current members with our organizations national flower to wear to Tally’s services, provide a breakfast spread for the morning prior to departure, and donate additional funds the Sepot family to help cover any financial burden due to their loss or to their charity of choice.”
That modest fundraising goal of just $1,000 has been far surpassed in under 24 hours. As of noon on Tuesday, the page has raised $24,297 for the family and the chapter.
The creators of the fundraising page posted an update on Monday, at which point the goal had already been reached five times over.
“We cannot thank all our donors enough for the out pour of support that we have received,” the update said. “We hope to bring a little comfort to the Sepot family and the current members of the Beta Mu chapter through all the generous donations that have been made.”
A total of 797 people have donated in the 23 hours since the fundraiser started. While nothing can erase this tragedy, the alumnae of Alpha Chi Omega only hope that this outpouring of support can bring some comfort to the Sepot family and her sorority sisters.
If you wish to donate to the GoFundMe campaign, you can do so here.
