Nearly 1,500 people have together contributed more than $80,000 to help support the family of Summer Lim, 11, who was fatally struck by a school bus Thursday.

A GoFundMe campaign, to cover funeral and other expenses for the family — which includes Summer’s younger sister and brother — collected the sum in two days.

Created by a family friend, the campaign describes Summer, a student at Earle B. Wood Middle School, as a child who loved drawing, reading and spending time with family and friends.

“She was adventurous and brave — in any activity, she would be first in line to swim, jump, rock climb, zip line, and fly,” the GoFundMe reads.

Summer was riding her bike from school when the bus, also coming from the school, hit her at the corner of Bauer Drive and Russett Road in Rockville.

Dozens of friends and family cried and hugged in the pews at a prayer vigil for Summer on Friday at the Church of Christ at Manor Woods in Rockville.

“This sucks,” the Rev. Carl Sweatman said during the vigil, his voice cracking.

He said that while the community will be looking for the “why” of Summer’s death, the answers might not heal their pain. As he spoke, a framed photo of a smiling Summer faced the crowd.

A memorial of flowers and stuffed animals marks the corner where she died after she was hit by the bus, which was heading in the same direction as the sixth grader.

Residents — many of whom did not know Summer or her family − prayed and dropped mementos at the site over the course of the day on Friday.

Not the first time

A hit-and-run in February occurred near the same intersection of Bauer Drive and Russett Road and caused an injury, according to the county’s heat map. Police could not immediately provide more information about the incident.

It is also not the first time in recent years that a child was killed by a school bus in Montgomery County. In December 2019, a 9-year-old girl was struck and killed by a school bus near the intersection of Tanglewood Drive and Millwood Road in Bethesda. She had been riding the bus and was hit shortly after she stepped off.

In the past 10 years the only other pedestrian fatality involving a yellow school bus was in 2015, according to Wade Holland, who manages Montgomery County’s program to improve pedestrian and driver safety.

In that incident, a 58-year-old woman was struck at the intersection of Crabbs Branch Way and Redland Road in Derwood. “There were no children on the bus,” Holland wrote in an email.

In the 2024/2025 school year, crashes involving pedestrians, cyclists or scooter users 18 or younger and traveling to and from a school or school bus stops made up 8% of all similar reported crashes, according to Montgomery County Police.

For people 18 and younger, there were 30 pedestrian, 7 bicyclist, and 4 electric scooter-involved crashes during that same period.

Montgomery County Police said the first few weeks in August saw three crashes involving pedestrians who were 18 or younger, all with no or minor injuries.