Sachem East cheerleaders hold fundraiser for football player

<p>Sachem East high school students are raising money for a peer who died during a summer football camp.&nbsp;</p>

News 12 Staff

Aug 13, 2017, 10:11 AM

Updated 2,613 days ago

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Sachem East High School students spent the day Sunday raising funds for the family of their classmate who died during a summer football camp.
The school's cheerleaders held a car wash fundraiser to benefit the family of Joshua Mileto.
The 16-year-old football player was about to start his junior year at Sachem East High School. He died Thursday after being injured during a strength and conditioning drill involving a log.
The car wash had been previously planned to raise money for the cheerleading team to go to nationals in February, but after losing one of their peers, the members felt it was much more important to show their support.
"Once this tragedy hit our community, it was just kind of a no-brainer at that point," said varsity cheerleading coach Taylor Grimm.
The car wash ran through 1 p.m. at the Applebee’s on North Ocean Avenue in Farmingville. In a show of community support, many cars were lined up to be washed at the event.
The cheerleaders raised at least $7,000.
The Sachem East Touchdown Club has also set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for the Mileto family.