Bill Nevin said that Gabby "was a typical young girl who wanted to follow her dreams."
Her YouTube channel, which many friends and community members watched, was part of that goal.
"She was living her best life until this happened," Bill said.
"And it's unfortunate and it's sad, because you don't think that could happen."
Steve Campo, one of the organizers of the fundraiser, told The Sun that the Gabby Petito Foundation is "what keeps her memory alive."
"Gabby's going to help," he said.
"Her name is going to help other young people in this situation."
The Sun was able to speak to two of the three men who organized the event.
Steve Campo, Bill Nevin and Christian Cabrera know Jim Schmidt, Gabby's stepfather.
Bill spoke about Gabby's family, and emphasized that they made sure to get her parents' blessing for the fundraising events.
"We went to the family to make sure they were okay with it, and they've been updated every time we did something," Bill said.
The trio started reaching out to their friends for food, entertainment and a venue.
"This came together with the three of us...just rocking and rolling, so to speak," Bill added.
Initially, the fundraiser was going to support Gabby's family directly, but they refused.
"We were just gonna get the money to the family because of the expenses they incurred," Bill said.
But Gabby's family insisted on paying it forward.
"We want the foundation to help other victims of domestic violence," Bill said, "and any other families that have to go through the tragedy that their family went through."
Daniel Welsch, owner of 89 North in Patchogue, said he was devastated to hear of Gabby's fate.
"It's just an unspeakable tragedy," Daniel said.
"It shouldn't ever happen to a sweet young lady like her, or anybody, for that matter," he added.
The fundraiser was put together by one of the musicians playing at the event, who works with Gabby's stepfather, Jim Schmidt.
The response from the community, Daniel said, has been "very positive."
"Everybody wants to help make phone calls and send emails," he said.
One person even drove down from Albany to support the event.
"It touched everybody," Daniel said.
"My heart just sunk," Karen said. "I couldn't imagine what she was going through, how terrified she had to be, witnessing her own life being snuffed out right from under her."
Karen met Gabby when the young vlogger had a restaurant job and served her.
"I mean, she was such a soft lovable girl, you know, very, very sensitive."
Gabby "loved life so much, but I think that Brian was so jealous of her," said Karen.
Brian didn't have the same joy as Gabby, and for that reason, Karen said, "She loved him, but he could not love her back."
"I personally was in an abusive relationship. So, when all of this kind of went public, it hit home for me," said New York City resident Regina Annunziata.
Gabby, said Regina, was "a young, beautiful girl with her whole life ahead of her," who deserved much better than the tragic circumstances she faced.
"It's just heartbreaking that these things happen," said Regina.
She hopes that the Gabby Petito Foundation is able to support anti-domestic violence causes, and provide resources to search for missing people, "so things don't progress to the point that they did unfortunately for her."
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