All day long, grimy Lexuses, dirt-flecked Camrys and big, bad looking Ford pickups pulled into the Pacific Dairy Queen on Ellingson Road for their meet up with sponge and soap.

What brought them out, washers and washees alike, was a chance to raise money for Colby, a 9-month-old boy fighting for his life in a hospital bed in Seattle. Doctors fear the boy, allegedly the victim of shaken baby syndrome at the hands of his teenage babysitter, sustained permanent brain damage and may never walk, talk or live a normal life.

Everybody spoke as well of compassion for the parents, a young couple with five other children overwhelmed by this sudden catastrophe in their lives and in danger of burial under a mountain of crushing expenses.

The babysitter, 18-year-old Dottie M. Reed, is accused of violently shaking the boy in her care in a May 20 incident. Reed has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree assault of a child. She is being held in the King County jail in lieu of $250,000 bail. A trial date has not been set.

Between noon and 5 p.m., the car wash raised more than $3,500. The total raised does not include money donated through Columbia Bank under the “Baby Colby Fund.” The baby’s family lives in Pacific.

Family members, friends, concerned residents, even Pacific Mayor Richard Hildreth and State Sen. Pam Roach, wielded sponges and hoses.

“Colby’s my cousin,” said Lauren Alfredson, between scrubbings. “We’re just keeping faith, staying strong, that’s all we can do.”

Margaret Thompson, Colby’s paternal grandmother, held up a sign with the baby’s photo along busy Ellingson Road.

“Colby’s got a long road ahead of him,” Thompson said. “His parents are holding up, but they are still hanging out at his bedside. This shouldn’t happen to any baby.”

Alfredo Medina, the Thompsons’ next-door neighbor, approached Hildreth a week earlier to pitch the idea of a fundraiser.

“One of the things we’re concerned about is that the parents, understandably, have been at the baby’s bedside 24/7,” Hildreth said. “Bills add up when you don’t have the opportunity to go to work. Their focus should be on their child right now. One of the things we wanted to do was we wanted to make sure that as they taking care of their child that other things don’t come back and bite them, like their mortgage.”

“Something happened to my neighbor, and I did something about it, that’s all,” Medina said. “Obviously, everyone else cares, too. It really is that simple.”

Lars Michelson, a firefighter with the Valley Regional Fire Authority, was the first one in the door in response to that fateful 911 call. He, too, brought in his car for a scrubbing.

“He seemed like a little fighter, but we didn’t really know what was affecting him at the time,” Michelson said of Colby. “Our job was not to deal with the babysitter, it was to provide the care to him. Cute as could be. We have donated some money toward it and wish the best for the family. To find out that he’s still fighting is really encouraging.”

Then Michelson looked down at his daughter, Lilly, under a protective coating of sunscreen, safe in her daddy’s arms.

“I’ve got a new one myself, as you can see. She’s just over a year, and that call definitely brought it home for me. That was another reason my wife and I wanted to donate. We are lucky, and we have a very nice woman who sits, and my wife has been with her for a long time,” Michelson said.

Hildreth later expressed his gratitude in a written statement.

“As Mayor, I want to say how proud I am of this community and how they are supporting this family. Thank you,” Hildreth wrote.

Throughout the day, family and friends snapped photos and e-mailed them to the parents. The parents in turn asked Hildreth to convey their gratitude.

“The parents of baby Colby would like to thank our family and our community for their love and support. We want to thank everyone who showed up to help in any way or to have their cars washed. We have seen the turn-out from the hospital via texts, and it is this overwhelming amount of support that keeps us going. Please keep the prayers and support coming. We will never be able to fully express to you all what this has done for our family.”

Among the other events planned this summer are a motorcycle ride in support of Colby.

Reed has pleaded innocent to the charges.