Only hours before Des Moines Police arrested a suspect in the Nov. 5 shooting death of Jayme Thomas, well over 300 people poured into the Resurrection Lutheran Church to raise the reward money leading to her killer’s capture.

Later that night, Des Moines Police and SWAT team members arrested a 29-year-old suspect at his home for investigation of homicide. While charges are still pending against the suspect, it appears police may have their shooter in custody.

The fundraiser held at the 134 S. 206th St. church attended by the Thomas family included a spaghetti feed, silent auction, raffle and Jayme Thomas t-shirts and stickers. By the time everyone showed up it was standing room only – a massive showing of support for the young woman everyone describes as uniquely kind and giving.

Pattie Lenz, a close family friend of the Thomas family, came up with the fundraiser idea and coordinated the event. In regards to the turnout, she said, “Unbelievable, I’m blown away.”

Please click the image above for additional photos from the fundraiser.

Jayme’s parents, Joe and Carrie Thomas, attended the event.

“(Jayme’s parents) were hurting so bad and when you try to think, ‘How can you make it better?’ and there’s nothing you can do, I just said (to Carrie), ‘Well how would you feel about doing a spaghetti feed to up the reward money?’ and she immediately said, ‘I love that,’ and that’s how the idea was born.”

As Lenz went out to ask Des Moines and Burien businesses if they would donate a prize for the silent auction, she was,again, blown away by the response.

“Every door that I went to for donations for the silent auction, everywhere I went, it was as though they were waiting for me and everyone just was so generous and so giving and even people who didn’t know Jayme, but had heard the story, were just ready for me,” she said.

Lenz shared her memories of Jayme, sentiments that were echoed by all through halls of Resurrection Lutheran Church on Wednesday night.

“I think that this whole community, and people beyond the community, has been so impacted by the loss of Jayme mainly because Jayme was a beautiful, optimistic, positive girl who made everyone feel good about themselves everywhere she went.”

“I think the one thing that stands out when a person does die is not how much money they made or how successful they were in business, but how they made other people feel about themselves, and she had that gift of just making everyone feel good about themselves.”

“It’s like Carrie said, even as a little girl they would go into a restaurant and she would see a little old man by himself and she would say so, ‘Oh Mom look, that man is all by himself and he probably just lost his wife.' She just had a heart; she would see people and she felt for them.”

“She would have made an awesome nurse,” Lenz added.

While it may turn out police have arrested their shooter in Jayme’s death (the deadline for prosecutors to file charges will come early next week), it became apparent to Lenz the fundraiser was less about raising funds and more about honoring Jayme and showing support to her family.

“I hope that the impact of this will help the Thomas family to heal, to get on the road to healing,” she said. “At first it was all about the reward money, but now I think it’s that (the Thomas family) knows how much she was loved by everyone.”

If it the money raised (Lenz’s goal was $3,000) isn’t needed for the reward, the smart money is on those funds somehow helping others out, just as Jayme Thomas would have done.

According to Judy Schwanke (a family friend and member of their church), after the fundraiser had ended and only a select few remained Jayme's father, Joe, received the call from police that the arrest had been made in his daughter's murder.

"As you can imagine, the family was in shock and in tears to hear the news," Schwanke said. "We believe this is the Lord working in miraculous ways, and the fact that it came just as the evening wrapped up is truly a ‘God thing’."