Fundraiser Aims To Help Plainfield College Students After Crash

PLAINFIELD, IL — After a pedestrian-car crash left two college students from Plainfield in critical condition, the community has come together to fundraise for their families.

According to the GoFundMe campaign, the two friends, Mike Burns and Carson Bates, were walking near a restaurant when a car hit them on the morning of Sept. 15. Both were airlifted in critical condition to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, the campaign organizer wrote.

The men "have been Illinois State students for four years and have made life on campus better for all who have the pleasure of knowing them," the fundraiser description reads.

The organizer started the GoFundMe as an outlet for people wanting to support the two students and their families, who are "dealing with significant medical expenses" as a result of the "extent of treatment required."

The community raised more than $37,000 in the two days since the fundraiser was created with a goal of $50,000. All proceeds will go to the students' families to help pay for "medical bills, hotel fees, travel costs and any other expenses incurred," according to the GoFundMe.

"We want to see our friends come home, and supporting their families is what matters most to us right now," the organizer wrote.