Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Thursday night was the public's opportunity to comment and raise questions or concerns regarding the Draft Protocol for the "Buffalo 5/14 Survivors Fund".
The steering committee for the Survivors Fund held a Town Hall meeting, as the group went over and explained the protocol in detail, and then fielded commentary from a number of different people in attendance. This included a group of individuals that included family members of the victims, survivors of the mass shooting, as well as concerned citizens looking out for the best interest of the survivors.
The Draft Protocol that was explained on Thursday is the steering 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. As of Thursday night, nearly $4.497 million has been donated to the fund that will provide direct financial assistance to the survivors of the 10 people killed in the shooting and those directly affected by the tragedy.
"We haven't experienced what you've experienced here, but we've experienced something similar, and we're here to help and we know what that's like," said Jeff Dion, Executive Director of the National Compassion Fund during Thursday's meeting.
A number of the people that spoke on Thursday raised questions about such topics as the application process to receive funds from the initiative, as well as their eligibility for receiving funds. Some brought up concerns regarding the distribution of money for the survivors of the mass shooting, and some came to simply thank the committee for their work to help all families directly affected by the incident that scarred a community on May 14.
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"We're here to listen to community, hear their thoughts on our Draft Protocols, because they are a draft. That's why we're having the meeting, to hear any other suggestions with regard to the protocols that we should consider," said Paul Vukelic, co-chair of the "5/14 Survivors Fund" on Thursday. "We're here to listen to that, and also answer any other questions with regard to the fund, the process that's to take place, and the timeline on that, too."
Thursday's meeting was the second meeting for the steering committee during this process, with it being the only chance for the public's feedback of the Draft Protocol that was established. Shortly after Thursday's meeting, the committee is scheduled to return for another meeting on Saturday to begin the process of finalizing the protocol, with the final meeting slated for Oct. 19 to formally approve the funds distribution plan.
As of right now, there is no set plan for how the money fundraised will be distributed to the victims' families, the survivors and others affected by the mass shooting. That process will hopefully be on the docket as time goes on before the proper funds need to be distributed later in October.
"We want to have this meeting first before we sit down and determine, 'OK, who's eligible, first of all? Do we put them in groups? Do we not put them in groups?' That's all we're going to do at this at this point," Vukelic said. "Then once everybody's applied and been approved, once we have that number, we'll get together again and we'll determine, based on that, how we'll distribute the funds. So we're staying totally open to that, at this point."
As for when families are expected to receive the money from the fund, the hard deadline for a final decision to be made on funds to be distributed comes on Oct. 24. From there, Vukelic says the money should find its way to respective parties within a day or two.
However, there have been a few instances where some of the families have received advanced funds to help with certain costs.
"We've given out some funds already to those certainly directly affected, some of the people that were either shot or the families of the people that perished. But the money, again, is going to come at the at the end of the process," Vukelic said.
There have been some in the local community that have called out the steering committee, saying the group has not done enough to communicate with the survivors of the mass shooting on May 14. They have also said that some of the survivors have not been given the proper recognition as a survivor, as they deal with physical, emotional and financial hardships since the attack took place.
Myles Carter is one community advocate who was in attendance on Thursday, standing up for a number of the survivors in the store who feel that more can be done to help those dealing with tough times as a result of the shooting.
Vukelic wants those who were directly affected by the shooting in such a manner to know they are included and eligible to receive help from the Survivors Fund.
"To this point, in the Draft Protocols, anybody that was on those premises within the perimeter of the store, when the shooting happened, whether you're an employee or a customer, you could have been a vendor on site at the time of the incident, then they will be included," he said. "They definitely know that, they should know that, and they also should know that's why we're doing the public meeting. We want to hear from them and their thoughts on that. But right now, I will say this, they are definitely included as a part of this fund."
Since 2014, the Tops mass shooting in Buffalo is the 23rd mass casualty fund administered by Dion and the National Compassion Fund. Just in the last year, the Tops mass shooting is the third grocery store shooting that the National Compassion Fund has helped raise money for the victims and the survivors. Other shootings that the fund has helped raise money for those directly impacted included Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida, Las Vegas, the Walmart in El Paso, Texas, and Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
While Dion understands that every situation relating to a mass shooting is different, the National Compassion Fund is doing all it can to help administer funds for those affected. However, the policy decisions about who is eligible and how are those funds distributed has to come from the local community and a local steering committee.
"When we start in a community, I don't know the people in your community, but I know some of the skill sets we need," Dion said. "I tell them, I need someone who is a trusted estates lawyer so that we can make sure we're in compliance with the laws of New York State, because we're dealing with people who died and looking at their legal heirs. We need to make sure that we have someone who understands psychological trauma, so there's someone other than me to explain to the committee why this is real and why this is important and needs to be included. We want to make sure we have someone who works with Victim Services so that we can be plugged in to all of the other services and the rest of the response that's happening in this community so we're not operating in a vacuum. And in many ways, this steering committee almost acts like a jury, because they're going to be, at the end of the day, deciding how much money is going to go into each category. Because of that, it's not appropriate for victims or their family members to sit on this committee, just like they couldn't sit in the jury that's going to prosecute the shooter. But that doesn't mean we don't want to hear from you. That's why we have this tonight. We want to hear from you."
In the meantime, while the committee continues to sort everything out with the fund, Vukelic asks those directly affected to trust the process.
"I know it's taken longer than people want, but people have to understand that probably over $5 million will be donated by the time everything's said and done. This money has been gifted, and we want to be good stewards of the money that's been donated, and certainly get it in the right hands."
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