Flagler Beach rallies around Romero family after death of son in crash. How to help.

The Flagler Beach community has rallied around the beloved owners of Romero’s Tuscany by the Sea restaurant following the death of their 23-year-old son.

A celebration of life is planned for Christian Romero at 6 p.m. Thursday on the beach in front of Dawn and Miguel Romero's Italian restaurant at 308 S. Ocean Shore Blvd.

Attendees are encouraged to wear something blue, which was Christian's favorite color.

Christian, a graduate of Flagler Palm Coast High School, died early Sunday morning when a 15-year-old girl driving a stolen 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe ran a red light on Dean Road near State Road 408 in Orlando and struck Christian's 2016 Toyota 4Runner, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Karen Dion, a close friend of the Romero family, said Christian, who was working in the service industry in Orlando, was returning home from work when he was struck shortly after 4:30 a.m.

Christian's sister, Aryanna Romero, shared a heartfelt post on Facebook about her brother who protected her from the day she was born, who "showed up to everything he could" and cheered her accomplishments "louder than anyone in the crowd."

"My entire life I’ve had my big brother always there to catch me," her post states, in part. "He motivated and kept me going in my darkest days and even prepared me for the ones to come. I'm so grateful for the person I had for the time I was blessed to have him. I will forever remember his words of "peace love and prosperity little sister" that he closed our messages with."

Dion, an administrator of the Facebook group Flagler Foodie Groupies, has posted updates on social media on the family's behalf and started a GoFund Me account to help them.

Dion wrote that the family would need to close the restaurant for at least seven to 10 days.

GoFundMe: In Memory of Christian Romero

"This closure means that the staff will not receive any income during this time, and the Romero family will also lose business during their time of grieving," Dion wrote. "We know that the Romero family would never ask for help themselves, but we are reaching out to the community to support their employees who will be struggling without their regular income. We are asking for donations to help support the staff and family during this difficult time."

By Wednesday, the account had more than 330 donations amounting to over $29,000.

Dion said Christian and his girlfriend were living in Orlando but had plans to move to Palm Coast in three months to work in his family's restaurant while he attends real estate school.

"He was a family guy," Dion said, adding that the Romeros and their five adult children "did everything together."

"How they all communicated with each other is just not something you see very often," Dion said.

Several contributors shared kind words for the Romero family or a memory of Christian.

"Christian is someone I will always remember for being incredibly personable in the short time I had the privilege to know him. He was intelligent, driven, and compassionate," Izaac Plambeck wrote. "While I understand that grief and sorrow are natural parts of the mourning process, I believe Christian would want to be remembered in a more celebratory light. Yes, I cried, but then I fondly reminisced about our deep conversations on artificial intelligence, his plans to go back to school for real estate, and even our shared experiences browsing Rolex watches together.

"These memories never fail to bring a smile to my face. I want to express my gratitude to his wonderful family for raising such an exceptional person. Christian's memory will forever live on thru all of our hearts. John 14:1-3," Plambeck wrote.

Dion said multiple businesses in the Flagler Beach area are donating a portion of their daily sales from different nights through Tuesday to help the close-knit family known for always helping others in need.

"They're the first people to do anything for the community," Dion said.

Visit the Flagler Foodie Groupies Facebook page for more information.

Parking for memorial, details on funeral service

People planning on attending the memorial are encouraged to carpool due to limited parking.

Recommended parking includes the vacant lot across from Veterans Park, 101 N. Ocean Shore Blvd., and city lots at 6th Street South and A1A and 5th Street South and South Daytona Avenue.

Dion said Friday's funeral service at Craig Flagler Palms Funeral Home & Flagler Memorial Gardens, 511 Old Kings Road S, Flagler Beach, is open to the public. The viewing is from 10 a.m. to noon, and the service begins at noon.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Flagler Beach rallies around restaurant family after son dies in crash