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'Aurora Rise' Set Up To Help Victims With Everyday Expenses

AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - Nearly nine months after the Aurora movie theater shootings, people are still reaching out to help the victims.

A permanent charity called Aurora Rise is now in place to help those affected by the tragedy get ongoing support. The name has intentional echoes of the title of the Batman film that was playing when the mass shooting happened -- "The Dark Knight Rises" -- and it's expected the charity will be popular among comic book and superhero fans.

One of the people behind the effort is Tom Sullivan, is the father of Alex Sullivan, one of the 12 who were killed.

CBS4 spoke with Sullivan on Tuesday at All C's Collectibles, a comic book store that holds a lot of special memories for him. It's a place he used to visit with his son.

"This is where we used to come every week," Sullivan said.

Jason Farnsworth owns the store and says many of his customers were affected by the tragedy. That's why he and Sullivan, with the help of some others, decided to form the nonprofit.

"With the theater being six blocks from our store, probably half the patrons in that theater, if not two thirds of them have probably come in in All C's at some time or another," Farnsworth said.

Jason Farnsworth
Jason Farnsworth (credit: CBS)

Farnsworth and Sullivan hope to help others in the community still suffering. Their mission on the organization's website describes their mission as follows:

Aurora Rise is an ongoing fundraising campaign to help Aurora shooting victims and their families offset the millions of dollars in medical expenses. We're here to do everything in our power to provide direct assistance and aid to the victims and their families.

"We have a lot of bad days and to have a good day really means something," Sullivan said.

The two men say that while Aurora Rise won't pay for large ticket items, it will help out with things like a bag of groceries, tank of gas or child care.

"Whatever we can do to help you get through tonight, that's what we'll do," Sullivan said.

The charity is also teaming up with comic book artists who are creating sketch covers to auction off at the upcoming Denver Comic Con, which takes place at the end of May.

Sullivan says Aurora Rise is a way to make sure no one is forgotten and a way to keep the comic book world that he and Alex loved alive.

"The things I try to do from here on out is just to make sure that Alex is proud," he said.

LINK: Aurora Rise

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