Donations Pour In For Boulder Shooting Victims' Families
BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) — When tragedy strikes a town, many neighbors immediately start looking for ways to help. No amount of donations or flowers will heal the pain that 10 Boulder families are feeling, but there's solace in knowing they're not hurting alone.
In less than 24 hours, a GoFundMe started by Boulder-native Ryan Van Duzer has raised more than $200,000 for the victims' families.
He lives just a few miles from the King Soopers where ten people were killed Monday afternoon.
"I was in disbelief. I was in shock. I had all the emotions that most of us in Boulder had. It's mostly heartbreak," said Van Duzer. "I'm involved with a lot of different community organizations and fundraising efforts. I love my town with all my heart and I try to make it as good of a community as I can. We're Boulder people, and we wanted to raise money directly for our neighbors."
When Van Duzer created the GoFundMe, he never expected the tremendous response from people all over the world.
At first, he was going to make arrangements to get the donations to victims' families. Then he learned about the Colorado Healing Fund. CHF collects donations and coordinates with victim assistance organizations to meet immediate and long-term financial needs.
"I thought this is great, they know exactly what to do. We'll give them all the money that we raised and then they will allocate the money," said Van Duzer.
Boulder Office of Emergency Management lists CHF as a suggested organization for donations, but Van Duzer's social media has added a valuable platform. He has over 21,000 followers on Instagram alone. He posted the GoFundMe link on his Story for all to see.
"It's from people all over the world. They're donating and saying incredibly kind, loving things," said Van Duzer. "We'll leave the GoFundMe up as long as people are giving money."
Boulder Office of Emergency Management provided a listed of organizations currently accepting donations:
Donations for Boulder Police Officer Eric Talley can be made through the Colorado State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=JWE54STEJ4FTJ
The Colorado Healing Fund is collecting donations to support the needs of victims, families and the community affected by the Boulder tragedy.
The Community Foundation Boulder County has announced a fund to support those impacted by the shooting. Donations can be made to support the needs of the victims, families and the larger impacted community.
If you have questions about volunteer opportunities, please email esf19@bouldercounty.org
