From staff reports

A GoFundMe to help the Beta Theta Pi fraternity attend their recently deceased brother’s funeral surpassed its goal of $10,000 in just four hours.

The fraternity members will travel Sunday to Bainbridge Island, home of 19-year-old WSU student Dashiell Mortell, who died in a car crash on Saturday while returning to Pullman.

Beta Theta Pi brother Andrew Enzler created the GoFundMe, which raised more than $13,000 in 11 hours. Enzler said he did not expect to receive so many donations at first, originally asking the GoFundMe for only $5,000 and expecting no more than a couple thousand.

“I was not expecting a bunch of help from random people,” Enzler said, “but most of the donations are from random Cougs.”

More than 200 people donated money, which will go toward charter bus transportation and housing for all 88 members of the fraternity, according to the GoFundMe. The two highest donations were for $1,000.

“People knew from the get-go that they wanted to go,” Enzler said. “It wasn’t a group effort; we all knew we were going.”

Leftover funds will go toward charities of the Mortell family’s choice, Enzler said. In lieu of gifts or flowers, his parents wanted money put toward the charities they feel passionate about, he said.

Reporting by Dan Doucet