5 Children Orphaned After Father Dies in Car Crash Months After Mother’s Untimely Death

A pastor in Iowa has launched a GoFundMe asking for help for five orphaned children who recently lost their dad months after losing their mom.

Bazirake Kariya, 30, was driving to his job at the JBS pork processing plant when freezing rain led to a fatal car crash, the Des Moines Register reports. Kariya left behind five children who are now orphaned after losing their mother during childbirth last August.

Now Eugene Kiruhura, the senior pastor at Urbandale’s Shalom Covenant Church, launched a GoFundMe asking for support for the deceased couple’s five young children. Kiruhura says he had known the family for about a year.

The Kariya’s moved to the U.S. from the Democratic Republic of the Congo three years ago and moved to Des Moines two years ago. But following the untimely passing of their parents, the kids ranging in age from 4 months old to 10 are being cared for by their grandparents.

One of their grandparents is sick, neither is employed, food, nor a home. The pastor’s GoFundMe has an initial $60,000 goal in hopes of covering funeral expenses and providing a fund for the children.

“The goal was to get the money for the funeral and pay the rent for a few months,” Kiruhura said.

After quickly meeting the goal, Kiruhura upped it to $200,000 and quickly surpassed that amount. The pastor is amazed at how generous people are toward the orphaned children.

“They will need a lot of things,” Kiruhura said. “They will need a car. They will go to school. They need to eat. They don’t have anyone who is working for them. By raising this money, it will help them for (the) long-term.”

While the financial support is nice, it won’t fill the void left behind from losing both of their parents in a matter of months.

“It’s very, very hard to the kids,” the pastor said. “They’ve been crying all the time.”