It only took a day for friends and strangers alike to help a soon-to-wed SoCal couple whose wedding money was stolen save their big day.
Ray De Santiago and Christina Scheuplein were burglarized of $6,000 they had saved for their wedding a week before the ceremony.
The couple's home was ransacked Saturday night, along with seven other homes and one car in the Valinda area, near La Puente, according to a deputy with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Industry station.
All of the cash the couple had saved to pay the vendors for the March 15 wedding was gone – specifically the money to buy the flowers and pay the florist.
De Santiago lost his job a little more than a month ago, according to Cameron Scheuplein, Christina’s uncle and Ray’s best man. To "help save Ray and Christina’s wedding," Cameron created a page on an online fundraising website called GoFundMe.
In just 24 hours, the $6,000 goal was surpassed. By 3 p.m. Tuesday, $6,500 had been raised.
"The outpouring of support has been overwhelming," Cameron said. "We even had one stranger who donated $2,000."
At this point, the wedding is still scheduled for Saturday. Thanks to the kindess of donors, De Santiago and Scheuplein were able to meet with the florist Tuesday as scheduled.
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The funds that exceed the goal will go toward the purchase of "a large safe and possibly a home security system," Cameron said.
