Following the Aurora, Colorado theater shootings in which 12 victims lost their lives, fundraising groups have raised over $5 million from fundraisers. However, the families of the victims are unhappy with the way the funds are being allocated and held a public news conference to announce their anger. Tom Teves, the group spokesman who also lost a son in the shootings, berated the fundraisers for not taking into account how the families would want the money to be distributed, even though the funds were raised using the pictures, names, and stories of their loved ones (Elliott).
Of the $5 million raised, $450,00 has been distributed. The Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance received $350,000 with the plans to give $5,000 to each of the families of the 70 victims to cover their financial needs. Another $100,000 was distributed evenly among 10 different nonprofit groups (Elliott).
Chantel Blunk, the wife of Jonathan Blunk who died in the theater, was given her share of $5,000 and told that it should cover funeral costs, psychiatric help, debts, and other necessities connected with the shooting. "How do you raise a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old until they're 18 with $5,000?" she asked, noting that the fundraisers refused to help her purchase a plane ticket to bring her child with her to Colorado (Ng). .
Teves accused the fundraising groups of ignoring the needs and wants of the victims and their families, and specifically targeted Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, who attended all 12 of the victims' funerals. "You pledged 12 times that 'We will remember.' Are you a man who is true to his words, or were they just words?" Teves questioned, noting the vigil that Governor Hickenlooper held after the shooting in which he said the name of each victim and led the crowd in a refrain of "We will remember" after each name (Elliott).
"Forget about having a robust guiding voice, the victims have no voice at all," Teves continued.
