PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — A Palm Beach Gardens family is in mourning, and the community has come together to show their support following the death of a mother who was killed in a recent crash.
Samantha Sierra, 33, was killed on the night of March 16 while driving home from a work-related event at Roger Dean Stadium.
"There was no better friend. There was no better woman. There's no better wife. There's no better mother," Sierra's husband Billy Gagliardo told WPTV at the scene of the crash. "She's everything that people aspire to be."
Her friend set up a GoFundMe account for Sierra's family. The account has raised nearly $50,000.
One of the biggest donors is a local photographer, Stephanie Giolitti.
"Her little girl with her, I don't think I'll ever forget that session in my entire life," Giolitti said.
Giolitti had taken photos of Sierra and her family weeks before her passing.
"I had just seen and photographed this amazing woman with so much life in her, and I just couldn't stop thinking about her husband and her little girl," Giolitti said.
When she heard the news of Sierra's tragic death, she sprang into action the best way she knew how.
"Her husband wrote me and he just said, 'Thank you so much because we wouldn't have gotten this done, and now I have these photos to look back on for the rest of my life and to share with my daughter,'" Giolitti said.
Giolitti offered her services, with all proceeds going to Sierra's family.
"I just want to help however I can," Giolitti said.
In a matter of hours, she raised thousands of dollars. It will be days and weeks of work for Stephanie, but she says it's nothing in comparison to the difference she hopes she can make in the long road ahead for the young family.
"Capturing your life is so important, mostly for when you're gone," Giolitti said.
"It makes me happy to know that many people loved her, that many people cared about her, and it just speaks to who she was," Gagliardo said.
