Community rallies to support Basauri family after tragic loss

BY PHILIP STEVENS

HOMETOWN GIRARD

▸▸ In the days following the death of Girard High School senior Adam Basauri, an 18-year-old whose life was cut short in a shooting Jan. 9, the Girard community has responded in a way many here recognize as instinctive, collective, and deeply personal.

In the days since Adam’s death, Local businesses, churches, classmates, and neighbors have mobilized around the Basauri family, offering meals, prayers, vigils, and fundraising efforts. They have emerged across Girard and Pittsburg, each reflecting a shared desire to stand beside the Basauri family, who are facing an unimaginable loss.

One of the largest efforts is being led by Andrew Faucett, owner of Eastside Café in Girard, Kansas, who announced a carryout fundraiser after learning of Adam’s death. Faucett said the response has been overwhelming.

“We anticipate a huge turnout and a quick sellout,” Faucett said, noting that the original announcement has already reached more than 130,000 people online, generating what he described as an outpouring of support for the family. 

The decision to help was immediate, said Faucett, but the timing was intentional.

“Out of respect for the family, we decided to wait until all family members were contacted before making this post,” Faucett wrote. He described watching Adam grow up, seeing him compete on the football field, and noticing the young man he was becoming, polite, respectful, and driven. Adam’s father works at Eastside Café, making the loss especially close to home.

On Friday, Jan. 16, Eastside Café will prepare 240 pulled pork sandwich meals with chips, sold for $10, with 100 percent of proceeds going directly to the Basauri family. The fundraiser will run from 5 to 7 p.m., carryout only. Free-will donations will also be accepted.

What began as a single fundraiser has since expanded through additional community generosity. Faucett said other local businesses stepped forward to help ensure the effort’s success, including Bob and Carolyn Zagonel, owners of Chicken Annie’s Girard, which is contributing some pulled pork and chips for the meal, helping offset food costs so more proceeds can go directly to the family.

Leah Smith, owner of 4-State Insurance Agency in Girard, has also pledged a matching donation of $2,400, maximizing the impact of sandwich sales. With those contributions in place, Faucett said the fundraiser is expected to raise approximately $5,000, even before free-will donations are included. 

For Faucett, the fundraiser is not about visibility, but about responsibility.

“As a father myself, I cannot fathom, cannot understand, or put into words how I would feel if this happened to my baby boy,” he wrote. “Girard will band together as we always do.”

Relayed through Faucett, the Basauri family expresses gratitude for that support while asking for continued prayers.

“Our hearts are broken as we grieve the loss of our son, Adam. He was taken from us far too soon, and we are leaning on our faith and on one another during this incredibly painful time. We are deeply grateful for the prayers, kindness, and generosity shown by our community. Your love and support have been a true blessing and have carried us through days we never imagined facing. Please continue to keep our family in your prayers as we place our trust in God and honor our son’s memory.”

Beyond Eastside Café, several additional efforts have been organized across the area. 

A candlelight vigil was planned for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14, at Schlanger Park in Pittsburg, the location where Adam was killed.

On Thursday, Jan. 22, Domino’s Pizza in Pittsburg will donate 25 percent of all orders placed using the “Dough Raising Night” coupon to the Basauri family.

Community members have also organized a Meal Train, coordinated by Whitney Rogers, to provide meals and gift cards to the family in the coming weeks. Dozens of individuals have already signed up, offering meals, donations, and cards as a way to ease everyday burdens during a season of grief.

Local baker Teff’s Little Oven has also announced plans to contribute proceeds from custom orders, emphasizing patience and understanding as they balance the fundraiser with work and school obligations.

Together, these efforts reflect a shared desire to do something tangible when words fall short, to stand with a family navigating loss, and to remind them they are not alone.

At moments like this, communities reveal who they are. While some people, and some towns, respond to tragedy with division, speculation, or criticism, Girard chooses a different path. Here, residents respond not with politicking outrage, but with compassion; not with noise, but with presence. People have offered meals instead of arguments, prayers instead of accusations, and words of comfort drawn from the timeless wisdom and eternal truth of the Bible. These acts of kindness do not erase loss, nor do they answer every question, but they reflect the best of our character. This is not all we will do in the days ahead, but it is the most important thing we can do now. When future generations look back on this moment, our hope is simple: that they will remember how we cared for one another. 

In the days ahead, students will return to classrooms missing a classmate, and a town will continue mourning a young life taken far too soon. But in kitchens, restaurants, and gathering places across Girard and Pittsburg, the response has been unmistakable: compassion expressed through action, neighbors caring for neighbors, and a community determined to wrap its arms around one of its own.

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