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XENIA — Community members are raising support for the widow and twin sons of the pilot killed in the plane crash at the Greene County Airport last week.
“I was deeply saddened to hear about the tragic accident, the plane crash, that took the life of Joel Lansford,” said Caleb Waller, an organizer of a fundraiser for the Lansford family, in a video about the efforts. “Nobody can prepare for that. No family member is ready for someone to pass on.”
With that in mind, Waller set up a fundraiser to help Joel’s widow Julia Ann and two sons for the next year. That effort had raised about $3,000 of its $36,000 goal, as of Monday.
Joel Lansford, 33, of Fairborn, was killed in a plane crash at the Greene County Airport Jan. 26. Lansford was the pilot and single occupant of the light plane that crashed near the airport’s runway. The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the cause of the crash.
Waller called the fundraiser an “opportunity”: “This I feel is my mandate, a Biblical responsibility to stand beside her and make sure that she does not have a worry or a care in regards to what her financial needs are,” he said. “This is the body of Messiah, truly coming together and standing and walking her through this time.”
Another online fundraiser had raised about $10,000 as of Monday, about $9,000 more than its original goal.
“I feel like this is a moment in time that we can rally around her, be who we’re supposed to be and stand beside her,” Waller said in the video. “And so I’m asking you to financially support Julia Ann. Join us in this fundraiser to see her fully supported for this next year.”
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