Community embraces Latrobe couple grieving daughter's loss in crash; fundraising underway

The community has rallied in support of a Latrobe couple following a vehicle crash that claimed the life of their 5-year-old daughter and injured the mother and another child.

Multiple fundraising efforts are underway by family, friends and coworkers of Noah Wingrove and his fiancee, Tori Jones. Their daughter Natalie was killed in the June 21 crash in Louisiana and Jones and daughter, Hudson, 3, are recovering.

“Natalie may have only been here a short time, but her impact will last forever,” said Jones. “She was our first baby, and she made us want to be better people.”

She said her daughter was “sweet and kind to everyone.”

A GoFundMe account for Wingrove, set up by his cousin, Megan Nicholson, had raised more than $48,000 toward its $75,000 goal as of Wednesday. Nicholson said donations will go toward the family’s costs for medical care, lodging, food, transportation and the July 12 funeral of Natalie.

Others are raising funds through Saturday at the Derry Township Agricultural Fair and from 4 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Dino’s Sports Lounge in Unity, where Jones works as a server.

Natalie “was the highlight of everyone’s day” and would have turned 6 on July 30, but, according to Nicholson, she celebrated with an early Taylor Swift-themed birthday party so her school friends could attend.

She attended Metzgar Elementary in Salem and was preparing to attend Latrobe Elementary in the fall.

The young girl was an enthusiastic member of Delmont-based Cub Scout Pack 211. She took part in the spring Scouting for Food campaign, collecting donated items for the local food bank.

“She was excited to see the other kids and happy to participate,” said Lion Cub den leader MaryAnn Fabian. “She was a real trooper. She was carrying those big bags of food like they were nothing and smiling the whole time.

“She’s definitely going to be missed.”

Nicholson said the crash occurred as Jones and the couple’s three children were traveling to visit a family friend. It resulted in Natalie’s death while Hudson suffered a broken leg and Jones had extensive injuries including multiple fractures. Son Tripp, 1, escaped injury, Nicholson said.

“This is going to be a very hard and long recovery for this family,” she wrote.

Hudson was set to have her cast removed this week, her mother said. Jones will not be able to walk for six weeks while continuing to recover from a shattered pelvis that required placement of pins on both sides. In two weeks, she expects to have a cast removed from her hand, which also was broken.

Jones underwent surgery to correct a shattered knee and broken femur and ankle. Her ruptured bladder also has been repaired while a liver laceration has healed and an aortic bleed has corrected itself, she said.

“Almost all of my ribs were broken, so they steel-plated them to fix it,” she said.

During her recovery, Wingrove will be taking time off from work at a garage door company to help her and the family will be temporarily residing with friends.

Dino’s owner Dino DeCario said fellow servers at the Route 30 restaurant are showing their support for Jones and her family by donating all tips they receive from patrons during Thursday’s fundraiser. The restaurant is seeding the fund with a $1,000 donation.

Those wishing to assist the family also can make a monetary donation without having to order food, DeCario said. Eight dozen specially designed “Tips for Tori” T-shirts will be sold for $10 each, with proceeds benefiting her family.

“It’s like a family here,” DeCario said of the restaurant’s staff. “Everybody wanted to help.”

The concern for Jones and her family extends into the larger community.

“I have people calling from everywhere to see how they can help Tori,” DeCario said. “We’ve had other fundraisers, and she was one who was always willing to sacrifice her time and money to help other people.”

Family friend Isabel Calabrace, who is a past queen of the Derry Township fair, has organized a donation collection for Jones at the queen raffle tent on the fairgrounds along Route 982 north of New Derry.

“I’ve known Tori for my whole life,” said Calabrace. “She grew up next door to my grandparents.

“When Tori and Noah became parents to Natalie, it opened up a whole new side of them. They were meant to be parents. Our community has gathered to show support to them.”

Alyssa Adams of Latrobe, an acquaintance of the couple, is helping to organize a spaghetti dinner and basket raffle Aug. 17 in Donegal to raise additional funds for them. She also has sold T-shirts featuring a design and lettering reflecting two of Natalie Wingrove’s favorites: the color pink and the music of Taylor Swift.

Details of the event can be found on Adams’ Facebook page.

“The community has been amazing,” said Adams.”So many people have been reaching out to help and donate, I can barely keep up with it all.”