Many Reach Out to Help 3 Orphans : Donations: More than $85,000 has been raised for brothers whose parents were killed in a car accident in Pomona.

Lois Hollis, a South-Central Los Angeles woman raising seven children on welfare, had been saving money to buy her 5-year-old a new pair of shoes.

But after she saw a recent news account about three boys left orphaned by an auto accident in Pomona, Hollis wrote a check for $20 and sent it to the children.

“I just felt sorry for the kids,” Hollis said. “I just felt bad that their mother . . . their father. . . .” Her voice trailed off without finishing the sentence.

“My son can wear this pair of shoes until the first of the month,” she added.

Perhaps there is nothing like a tragedy to remind recession-weary Southern Californians that, despite their economic woes, others need their financial help.

That message has been echoed repeatedly in the cards and letters accompanying the more than $85,000 in donations that have been sent to Shem Forrest, 17, and his brothers, Justin, 11, and Daniel, 9, since their parents’ deaths Sept. 16.

“Sometimes we take our lives for granted until we hear about something like what happened to the Forrests,” wrote Ruth Dodson of Reseda, who sent a check for $100.

Another note, unsigned, read: “I know we all feel that times are tough, but not as tough as things will be for those kids.”

Fred and Janet Forrest, ages 38 and 40, were killed when their car was struck by a truck on the Corona Expressway while the family was on their way to the funeral of Fred Forrest’s mother. The boys were seriously injured, with the younger two trapped in the wreckage for nearly an hour before firefighters could extricate them.

Pomona Police Lt. Leon Sakamoto said the truck driver, Javier Martinez, 31, was moving the vehicle to Pomona for repairs after it had been parked for five years. Police believe that the truck’s brakes failed, Sakamoto said.

No charges have been filed but the investigation is continuing, Sakamoto said, adding that Martinez was driving with a suspended license.

The Forrest family had been living in a trailer home in Chino making do on Fred Forrest’s pay as a security guard and window washer, Pomona Fire Capt. Ron Swearingen said. With their parents’ deaths, the boys were left with virtually nothing.

Their plight was publicized by the Fire Department. Rich and poor, young and old, people from all walks of life have contributed to a trust fund set up for the boys.

Members of the California Angels donated $5,000 and visited the boys in the hospital. Anonymous citizens sent a single dollar bill in envelopes without a word of explanation.

“I am unemployed myself for almost a year now, but these Forrest boys need our support,” wrote an Ontario man who sent a check for $15.

Many people--single mothers, senior citizens on fixed incomes, the unemployed--bemoaned the fact that they could not send more. Others promised to send more in the future.

“I wish in all honesty that I could give you more monetary help,” wrote Doris Macias of Alhambra, a single mother who said she and her two sons were involved in a serious car accident this year. “As a single mom, my sons did not have health insurance, and thus we also have mounting health bills. But I wanted to share what I could with you.” She sent $50.

Another woman wrote that her husband had been killed in an accident on a movie set this year, leaving her pregnant and with a young child. The cast and crew of the movie took up a collection for her. She drew $100 from that fund and sent it to the Forrest boys.

Fred Forrest’s older brother, Jim, and Janet Forrest’s sister, Marilyn Richards, have offered to care for the two younger boys. Custody will be decided by the courts. Meanwhile, Daniel is living with Jim Forrest and Marilyn Richards, and Justin will remain hospitalized for several weeks. Shem, who will turn 18 in two weeks, is staying with a friend.