Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - It has been nearly a month since the donation window for the "5/14 Survivors Fund" closed, with over $5.5 million donated by more than 13,000 individuals across the globe.
While some of that total has already been given out to some of the victims' families of the mass shooting at the Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Avenue in Buffalo, the rest of it is set to be distributed in the coming weeks to survivors of the racially motivated attack back on May 14.
"On the 19th of October, we plan on having a meeting, especially with the families of those who have been deceased, to share with them - as we talked about in the town hall meeting - to talk to them about what's going on, and a breakdown of the funds regarding their family. So that is the date that we're looking at," said co-chair of the "5/14 Survivors Fund", Rev. Mark Blue.
According to Rev. Blue, some of the applicants who applied for compensation from the "5/14 Survivors Fund" are still being processed. That's because he and the rest of the steering committee for the fund know it's very critical to get this right.
"We only have one attempt at it, so we want to make sure that those applicants who are eligible - who have been vetted by their presence with the police, and all of the other entities that we're using - that they're eligible recipients for this gift," Rev. Blue said.
According to the official "5/14 Survivors Fund" webpage at the National Compassion Fund's website, Wednesday will see the steering committee approve the fund's distribution plan, with the beginning of the distribution period beginning on Monday, Oct. 24.
From there, Rev. Blue anticipates the funds to be distributed to all those who are eligible relatively quickly. However, it may be an extended process for other survivors, but that's because the committee wants to make sure that no family is victimized by receiving any funds.
"Those who are eligible, and they're receiving benefits from whatever grants that are out there - social service and those things - we want to make sure that when they receive these funds, their grants or their subsidies are not in jeopardy," Rev. Blue explained. "We have our legal team that's working - they're volunteer lawyers that are working to make sure that if they receive these funds, their livelihood is not in jeopardy, they're not cut off of any programs, or any of the services that they're currently on if this tragedy had never happened. So we will be talking with those families a little more to help them to understand and to see what ways will be eligible for them, so that their livelihood would not be harmed in any way, shape, form or fashion."
When all is said and done over the distribution period, Rev. Blue says the committee is hoping to have all of the more than $5.5 million given to families that are eligible to receive funds by the end of October, or early part of November.
While the final total of people that applied for compensation from the "5/14 Survivors Fund" was not disclosed, Rev. Blue says the committee followed the protocol that we laid out earlier this summer to lay out the details of who was eligible to receive funds.
With the efforts for the "5/14 Survivors Fund" beginning to wind down, more than five months after the heartbreak and tragedy that took place at the Tops on Jefferson Avenue, it will allow for many members of the steering committee to reflect on all that happened and the wave of emotions felt during this process. That includes Rev. Blue, who's hoping the efforts of all involved in this process have done all they can to help those who needed the most help.
"I wish this never would have happened to our city, to our people, our community. But we wanted to, me personally, look back at the good we can do to help our community, help families, because we know this process is going to be a long process," Rev. Blue said. "The tragedy, the trauma that we all have been through, indirectly and directly, will last a lifetime. So we want to make sure that we do the best we can to help the families that have been affected, to help our community, which has been affected, to look at surviving and being able to have a better understanding, and also be impactful to what we can do better for our communities, so we can make sure that we're not ostracized and we can make sure that no individual can target our community because of one grocery store in the area."
"There's a lot of work that's going to be continuing to be done through the Buffalo Together Fund, which is totally separate from the 5/14 Survivors Fund. So we're looking at, hopefully, a continuing conversation to engage our political community, all of our community. Just let's see what we can do better for our African American community."
