In the aftermath of the June 12 shooting at Pulse nightclub that killed 49 and wounded 53, Equality Florida rushed to put together a GoFundMe campaign to benefit victims and their families. The outpouring of financial support was so great that it even briefly took down GoFundMe’s website as eager donors overloaded the site.
That Pulse shooting GoFundMe campaign has raised $7,818,000 to date, making it the most successful campaign of all time. Prior to that, the record was held by the Saving Eliza campaign, which raised over $2 million for the non-profit Cure Sanfilippo Foundation.
The Equality Florida campaign was later merged with the OneOrlando Fund in order to provide better oversight and consolidate the over $20 million raised via both efforts. The centralized fund is managed by Kenneth Feinberg, who previously administered both the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund as well as distributions for those affected by the BP Deepwater Horizon incident in 2010 and the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.
“We are dealing with very vulnerable citizens who have been the victims of a tragedy that they had no idea was coming. And we have learned over the years that the best you can hope for is silence as people accept whatever financial help they can receive,” Feinberg said in regard to disbursements back in July.
So, silent people, your final chance to submit a claim is September 12, 2016.
In the case of conflicting claims submitted for a deceased victim, Feinberg urges that families of the victims resolve all issues which may exist with regard to who is the person legally responsible for administering the estate of the deceased and therefore eligible to file the claim. Any conflicting claims which haven’t been resolved by the distribution deadline of September 27 will likely end up in probate court to be worked out only via court order.
Eligible individuals can submit a claim to the OneOrlando Fund here.