Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The steering committee for the "Buffalo 5/14 Survivors Fund" will be conducting a public Town Hall meeting on Thursday to go over and explain the Draft Protocol, which is the committee’s proposed rules for eligibility and distribution of the funds donated for survivors of the May 14 shooting at the Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Avenue.
While the Draft Protocol was published and made available on June 20, Thursday's Town Hall meeting will provide an opportunity for public feedback from potential applicants and the general public on the protocol and the application submission process.
"It's going to be a healing [opportunity]. People will be able to express [concerns], some for the very first time to the committee, and we will take into consideration all of that," said co-chair of the "5/14 Survivors Fund" steering committee, Rev. Mark Blue. "The Draft Protocol, we have highlighted certain areas in which the area of people being affected, maybe it may need to be expanded, maybe it may need to be closer a little bit. But we're going to take all that into consideration. Everybody's input is valued and valuable, and the entire committee will be at the town hall meeting.
"We're going to take the input in from the community and for the families, as well, to do our due diligence to help in making sure that these funds go out to the families as a gift."
Meetings have been ongoing with the steering committee since it was assembled back in late May. This included a meeting with the Executive Director of the National Compassion Fund, Jeff Dion back in June to discuss where the fund stood at the time, and how the decision making locally will play out for distributing the money raised in the end.
As of Wednesday, the "Buffalo 5/14 Survivors Fund" has raised nearly $4.5 million that will provide direct financial assistance to the survivors of the 10 people killed in the shooting and those directly affected by the tragedy.
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"It's been a daunting task," Rev. Blue said. "No one really wants this to happen. No one really wanted to be on this committee, but out of compassion, out of love for our community, these volunteers have taken the time and the dedication to help make a decision in a choice to help the families that have been adversely affected by this tragedy. It's a process that's [ongoing], I can't say going well, going fast, going slow, but it's going."
Prior to Thursday's meeting, the steering committee has made the efforts to already meet with the families to make sure they better understood the process. They felt that communication was key in this process, and the more information being filtered to the community and to families, the better educated everyone will be.
Rev. Blue explained that Thursday's comments from the public will be taken greatly into consideration before the Draft Protocol is finalized, which then at that point the money raised for the fund will be evenly distributed to the families in varying degrees.
"We want to make sure that we do right by the families," he said. "It is a daunting task, again, but with the help from Jeff [Dion] and his organization, we want to make sure that we do the best to take care of the families.
"The families are hurting. No amount of money can replace the loss that they have suffered, or the pain that they endured."
People are still encouraged to make donations to the "5/14 Survivors Fund" by visiting NationalCompassionFund.org and clicking on the "5/14 Survivors Fund" page. There they can contribute with a donation, or also view the Draft Protocol that will be talked about on Thursday.
The National Compassion Fund will be accepting donations for the "5/14 Survivors Fund" through Tuesday, Sept. 20.
However, some people are calling for immediate action by the steering committee to further help others directly impacted by the Tops mass shooting.
Community advocate Myles Carter was joined on Wednesday by a few of the survivors that were in the Tops on Jefferson Avenue during the May 14 attack.
"Each one of them have their own story, but they all have something in common. That's how they're struggling to put their life back together following what happened on May 14," said Carter during a press conference outside City Honors School. "May 14 will be a day that all of us remember, a terror attack that happened in our community against our people. Some of whom lost their lives, many of whom lost a part of themselves. From the lack of community organizing, we came together to help identify and fight for the needs of our brothers and sisters who survived the racist terror attack. We've done what we can to get the survivors situated with proper mental health, situated with proper legal aid, and we are working through the arduous process to get everyone the financial services they need in the time that they have to heal."
As part of Wednesday's press conference, Carter outlined the needs of some of the survivors that managed to survive the shooting:
1.) The removal of the application process and red tape for those who were in the store that day.
2.) Advanced fund payments being available for all of the victims and survivors.
3.) Equity and fairness in the distribution of monies collected.
"We're not asking for any more than what everybody else is getting," said survivor Kishia Douglas, who was a customer in the store at the time of the shooting. "The shooting, it took 10 lives, and my heart goes out to them. And it wounded three others, and my heart goes out to them. But I was inside, and I'm not the same person. I lost something. I'm trying to figure out how am I supposed to live when all of this is over. I'm not eligible for workers comp, I'm not eligible for unemployment, because I was at a grocery store shopping. What happened to me didn't happen on my job, so what am I supposed to do?"
As for Brooklyn Hough, she was an employee of Tops working in customer service at the time of the shooting. She happened to be on her lunch break when the suspected gunman entered the store. She had never thought this would happened to her, let alone to others in the City of Buffalo.
"For this to happen, and for me to be told that I'm not a first priority like the victims that are not here with us anymore and three that were wounded, it hurts, because I'm struggling every day," said Hough. "I have two children that I have to take care of, and I have not been able to work. I cannot return back to Tops. I have tried, but I can't. It's really hard for me to sleep, it's really hard for me to think. My mind is all over the place. I am angry, I am hurt that this happened to my people, to me. It hurts knowing that I'm not a first priority.
"At the end of the day, I need help. And this fund, that's called a 'Survivors Fund', I am a survivor. This is supposed to be for me. This is supposed to be for us. Not for the community, because, yes, they were affected, but I should be a priority. I was affected firsthand. I am the one that has psychological trauma. I have not been able to stop thinking about this, and to know that there's going to be an application process, I can't think about that. I don't even want to think about that day. And to know I have to do an application in order to receive funds, that's not right at all."
According to Carter, Tops has stop paying their employees, including Hough, for the time off, as the store re-opened. That meant when the store re-opened to the public this past Friday, she wasn't receiving a paycheck any longer.
Meanwhile, other services like workers comp and Victim Services have not kicked in for those impacted by the shooting. Carter says both Douglas and Taisiah Stewart have applied for Victim Services, but neither one are being compensated yet.
Thursday's Town Hall meeting with the "5/14 Survivors Fund" steering committee is set to begin at 6 p.m. ET at City Honors School.