The
Lemon Grove community
has raised more than $35,000 on
GoFundMe
to support the family of Sitivi “Steve” Faiai’s family after his sudden death last week.
The funds will help financially support the first-term council member’s wife and two sons following Faiai’s abrupt death from a heart attack last Tuesday. Faiai, who also went by Steve, was 50.
Lindsay Holmes, Faiai’s sister-in-law, started the fundraiser the day after the councilmember died because the family’s “financial burden will be heavy” from Faiai’s unexpected death.
“My sister would never want to ask for help, but we all know she’d be the first person to create a GoFundMe for someone who needed it,” Holmes wrote of her sister and Faiai’s wife of over 21 years, Lauren Holmes Faiai. “Any amount given will be an incredible support to the family as we give them space to grieve and process.”
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More than 240 community members have donated to support the “Faiai Four” so far, and the fundraiser is just a couple thousand dollars away away from its goal of $40,000.
An involved member of the local community, Faiai coached football at Helix High School in La Mesa, worked as an early-morning manager at a Sprouts grocery store and pastored at
OB One Church in Ocean Beach
when he wasn’t at the Lemon Grove City Council.
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“His priorities reflected a deep sense of community pride and building a cleaner, safer, and more united Lemon Grove,” the city wrote in a
statement
about Faiai’s death. “Councilmember Faiai was a bridge-builder, known for listening with humility and moving forward with a purpose.”
Faiai was elected to the council in November after living in Lemon Grove for four years and in East County for many more. While he didn’t come from a background in politics, he made an impact during his short-lived tenure by focusing on addressing homelessness, public safety and support for children and families.
