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Co-workers host fundraiser Monday for crash victim

Posted at 12:15 PM, Jan 13, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-13 12:15:25-05

HOWARD CITY, Mich. --Coworkers of Samantha Baker are coming together to raise money for her family.

The Bakers were in a three car accident last Sunday. Samantha,, 18, and her nine-month-old niece, Annalee Baker, lost their lives.

Now coworkers are doing a small act of kindness in hopes of making a big impact on a family that is trying to recover. Samantha's coworkers at BC Pizza and other friends are putting together a memorial fundraiser to begin to help them heal, while Sam's coworkers are working to heal themselves.

"She had a smile the would light up everything you walked in here," says coworker and friend Erin Thomasma, "and you just wanted to get to work."

Baker touched the lives of many in Montcalm County. "She just made everything better," said coworker and friend Katie Cowels. "If you were having a bad day, Sam would pick jokes and have fun right along with you, and you'd forget about your bad day."

"Coming into work was really difficult  (after the crash)," Thomasma said. "It was hard trying to get everybody upbeat about everything."

"We drive that same route everyday and know that we lost a really good friend, a really good coworker," Cowels adds.

Now her coworkers will remember their friend with a memorial, giving 100 percent of their sales to her family.

"It's been horrible to walk in the door and not see her, so we decided that with such a big tragedy and loss that we would take advantage of helping them out as much as we can," says Samantha Fickle, an extended family member.

Michelle Baker, her daughter Samantha, her boyfriend Zachary Buckels, and little Annalee, were driving home from church on M-46 they were rear-ended at the corner of Amble.

Michigan State Police say the car was pushed into another lane, colliding with another car, ending up in a ditch.

The memorial fundraiser will be held Monday at both BC pizza locations, in Howard City and Lakeview, from 4 to 9 p.m.

Click here for more details.