Cody Walker recalls his late brother’s friends being “so supportive of the family” after Paul’s death in 2013.
The cast Fast and furious franchise mobilized quickly after Paul Walker’s death in 2013, the actor’s brother says.
Cody Walker tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue that “Vin [Diesel]Tyrese [Gibson]Ludacris, Michelle [Rodriguez], Sung Kang. . . [have] everyone has been so supportive of the family” in the years since Paul was killed in a car accident in Los Angeles.
“They were all at my mom’s house [Cheryl Walker] home right after the accident for a few days,” Cody recalls. “They all flew in from Atlanta or wherever they were, and that really meant a lot.”
Paul appeared Fast and furious 2001, the start of an action franchise of 11 films. Paul appeared in six films before his death.
Who is Paul Walker’s daughter? All about Meadow Walker
Over the past decade, Cody says the cast “have all helped to honor Paul and support his charity, Reach Out WorldWide.”
Inspired by the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Paul founded the non-profit organization Reach Out WorldWide (ROWW) to help transport first responders to disaster areas to supplement local relief efforts.
For more on Cody Walker, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
The cast of “The Fast and the Furious” in 2001.
Universal/Getty
To honor Paul’s philanthropy, “we’ve been doing different fundraisers,” says Cody, who has since started live automotive events called FuelFest, which donate a portion of the proceeds to ROWW. “We’ve done different things. We used to do these events called Game for Paul where we’d raise charitable donations for big games. Vin was a part of every one of them. Tyrese and Michelle, over the years, Sung, Nathalie Emmanuel, they all just came together .”
Cody says ROWW is an important part of his brother’s legacy — and talks about Paul’s desire to do more to give back than just write a check.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/fast-furious-cast-2-112123-ae0b32f75753488ebc6a576dea9ea329.jpg)
From left: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez and Tyrese Gibson in April 2013.
Ryan Miller/Getty
Vin Diesel pays tribute to Paul Walker on late actor’s 50th birthday: ‘Brothers for Eternity’
“He said, ‘No, I want to go in there and I want to help. I don’t want to be part of some big old PR campaign or anything like that. I want to go to Haiti. I want to go help the people there. I want to go to Chile. I want to go to the Philippines and I want to help Cody tells PEOPLE.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(599x0:601x2)/cody-walker-mag-rollout-3-111723-9b27a1e2c28f4cad9de8c7b9727d5061.jpg)
Cody Walker 2021
AFF-USA/Shutterstock
As for the support from his late brothers’ friends – who have also been there for Paul’s daughters at big moments in their lives, including her wedding in 2021 – he says: “Everyone really loved Paul.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education