Banda San Judas performs Wednesday evening at Culichitown in Fresno for a fundraiser to benefit workers killed in a crash. Photo by Frank Lopez

A Fresno restaurant hosted a fundraiser Wednesday evening for the families of seven farmworkers killed in a head-on car crash in Madera County a couple of weeks ago.

From 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., all of the revenue taken in at the Mexican sushi and seafood restaurant Culichitown Wednesday was committed to the families.

Eight people in the Feb. 23 collision were killed, including seven farmworkers in a van on their way to work. The driver of a truck suspected of veering into the van’s path was also killed.

Chef Misael Guerrero, founder of the Culichitown Restaurants franchise with more than a dozen locations, and celebrity chef Anivar Larios, a Madera native with more than 2 million followers on TikTok, came up with the idea to organize the fundraiser at the Fresno location to support the farmworkers’ families and show solidarity with the community.

 

Jose Zuniga, general manager at the Fresno location, said that since Culichitown is part of the community, the least they can do is help the families of deceased victims. Businesses need to band together to help during challenging times, he added.

“These are the times when the victims of these tragedies need economic support. That’s why at Culichitown, all of the managers and leaders agreed to organize this event to support the families of the victims,” Zuniga.

Along with an appearance from Chef Anivar, guests were able to enjoy live music by Banda San Judas.

Zuniga said it’s during these tragedies that the Latino community needs to stick together and realize that they are all “paisanos”, which is Spanish for countrymen.

KVPR reported the people killed in the accident were:

• Fidel Filomeno Ojeda, 34
• Pedro Hernandez Ojeda, 35
• Roberto Banuelos Flores, 57
• Hector Manuel Orozco Ordonez, 34, of Jalisco, Mexico
• Juvenal Jacobo Talavera, 24, of Michoacan, Mexico
• Alfredo Sanchez Morales, 30, of Guerrero, Mexico
• Victor Hernandez Cirilo, 30, of Guerrero, Mexico
• Robert Jerry Kovar, 78, of Auberry, who was driving the truck

According to the Fresno Bee, the following pages have been verified by GoFundMe, a spokesperson for the fundraising company said in an email to The Fresno Bee.

•  Donations for Hector Orozco can be made here. 
• Donations for Juvenal Jacobo Talavera, from Michoacan, Mexico, can be made here. 
• Donations for Alfredo Morales, Victor Hernandez, both from Guerrero, Mexico, and the sole survivor of the crash, Benito Perez, can be made here.