SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - The community came together Saturday to raise money for rescued teenager Hannah Anderson and her family.
The car wash was organized by parents of children who knew 8-year-old Ethan Anderson, who was killed along with his mother, reportedly at the hands of James DiMaggio.
The Lakeside community continues to help out the Anderson family as much as they can and Saturday was no exception.
"My son was Ethan's best friend and we just want to do whatever we can for their family," said Tracy Paulson.
Ethan Anderson lived a short life but the 8-year-old made plenty friends before he was killed.
Saturday, his friends scrubbed and sprayed down cars in Lakeside to raise money for Ethan's late mother Christina and the family she left behind.
"Brett's really happy that we're helping and he's very thankful, and I'm sure Hannah is too," said Bonnie Parker.
Each volunteer is washing cars to help Hannah and Brett Anderson plan a funeral for their loved ones murdered on August 4th.
The young workers were busy with sponges since 8:30 a.m. Saturday -- eager to set aside two weeks of grief if only for a day.
"They're hiding it a whole lot and we just wanted them to feel that it's okay to be sad, it's okay to come out here, and to do this, because this is what Ethan would want," Paulson said.
So they took action because the murders and the kidnapping devastated not only the Anderson family but the entire community.
"I couldn't believe it happened so close to home," Paulson said.
Soon Christina and Ethan will be put to rest at their funerals in Lakeside next Saturday.
For now, Ethan's friends miss him every day even though it hasn't been easy understanding why he was even taken from them at all.
"It's not that we want it to happen its just part of life (God needed him) and God took him for a good reason," she said.
The two organizers, Bonnie Parker and Tracy Paulson, say they were able to raise more than a $1,000 Saturday.
Just this past Thursday, the community raised more than $8,000 at a separate fundraiser at the Boll Weevil in Lakeside.
Funeral services for Christina and Ethan Anderson will be held at the Guardian Angel Roman Catholic Church in Santee on Saturday.