Fundraiser Held For Teen Critically Injured In RSM Head-On Crash

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, CA — South Orange County residents and local businesses are coming together to help support one family after a Trabuco Hills High School student was hospitalized in May.

Residents can help support 17-year-old Cruz Melendez and his family by joining a fundraiser held at Round Table Pizza in Foothill Ranch on Wednesday, a family friend said on Facebook.

Cruz was driving home from his Ladera Ranch job at Shredz when an oncoming car hit a center median near Tijeras Creek Road and crashed into his Jeep head-on, according to a previous Patch report.

The crash killed the driver of the oncoming car, and critically injured Cruz and another unidentified passenger.

As a part of the fundraiser, Round Table will be donating 25 percent of all day sales to the Melendez family as Cruz recovers.

"Thank you for the prayers and love, the power of thoughts and prayers is more powerful than its credited and truly means the world to us," Taylor Fox, a close family friend of the Melendez family, wrote on Facebook.

Mother Rahnee Melendez told Patch that she is taking Cruz's recovery "minute by minute."

"He's a junior triathlete, and he's super into fitness and working out. He's always with his friends, playing pickleball, being super active," Melendez said. "That's gonna be the biggest tragedy for him."

Residents interested in supporting the Melendez family can donate directly to the family via GoFundMe.

The Round Table Pizza in Ladera Ranch is located at 27472 Portola Pkwy., Foothill Ranch.

GoFundMe is a Patch promotional partner.