"I just want Helen to know that we all care about her, and we have the whole community out here, so she can do better," said friend Ari Munoz.
Students, friends and community members held a car wash on Thursday to help raise money for the family.
"Being a parent, I can only imagine what Helen's mother is going through," said parent Kristy Miller-Munoz. "I'm praying for Helen every day. I couldn't imagine if it was my child. It's been very emotional."
The California Highway Patrol says 18-year-old Daniel Carrillo only had his license for 15 days when he ran a red light at over 50 miles an hour, hitting at least eight students.
Miller-Munoz says there's still a lot of anger about what happened.
"He's going to have to deal with this for the rest of his life, but he was a careless driver, and something needs to be done," she said.
It's an accident that affected a lot of people. Judy Garner, who showed up to support the car wash, says her grandson was almost hit that day.
"Three kids away, he actually felt the brush of the car, turned around saw the papers fly in the air, saw the girl get run over," Garner said.
As for Richardson, friends say she's still in a medically-induced coma, but is showing signs of improvement.
"She's doing better, they took out her breathing tubes, and so she's breathing on her own, and she opens her eyes every once in a while," said friend Tawny O'Neal.
The CHP said it will be recommending that the teen driver be charged for the accident. The district attorney's office has not said whether it will file charges.
