Survivors And Victims’ Families From Parkland School Shooting To Receive $10.5 Million
After the Feb. 14 deadly shooting in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, victims’ relatives and survivors will divvy up millions of financial support.
The families of the 17 killed students, teachers, and staff will each receive $400,000 from a fund totaling $10.5 million. Eighteen of the wounded survivors, meanwhile, will split $1.63 million, in amounts between $35,000 and $250,000.
The funds come from a GoFundMe campaign that commenced after the Parkland, Florida, tragedy. On Monday, the Broward Education Foundation and a steering committee, responsible for the funds allocation, announced the breakdown of the money donated by some 37,000 individuals and companies, the AP reported.
The foundation saw nearly 1,700 applications for financial help and approved 1,517.
Nearly 450 students who were in the school building at the time of the shooting will collect $2,500 each, while over 1,000 children who dotted the campus when Nikolas Cruz opened fire will receive $1,000 each.
Payments will start on July 16.
“These gifts are given without any restriction on their use,”said Christina Fischer, Broward Education Foundation board chair. “The families and recipients are in the best position to determine how these funds would be most beneficial to their healing.”
Speaking to the AP, Andrew Pollack, who lost his daughter Meadow in the Parkland shooting, said he will give the money to his two sons and his late daughter’s boyfriend.
“It will help my kids when they’re starting out their lives and it will make their sister happy,” said Pollack.
He has raised over $400,000 on his own to construct a playground in Meadow’s honor.
The $10.5 million the foundation is to soon distribute do not include the funds amassed through the separate efforts of March for Our Lives, the advocacy group students formed after the shooting.
A chunk of that money covered the expenses of the March 24 student-led anti-gun rally in Washington, D.C, which cost $5 million, according to NPR. “Several million” remain to sponsor lobbing endeavors, voter education, and ballot initiatives, which are currently being promoted by Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students on a bus tour around the country.
March for Our Lives has garnered the backing of influential public and entertainment figures. Director Steven Spielberg and producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, each, gave half a million to the organization. George and Amal Clooney pledged the same amount, and so did Oprah Winfrey.
In late March, NPR reported that March for Our Lives will allocate some of its finances to victims’ families. So far, no such arrangements have become public.
