Buffalo 5/14 fund to seek input on rules for distributing donations

The Buffalo 5/14 Survivors Fund, established by Tops Markets and the National Compassion Fund, had received $2.86 million in donations from 12,400 contributors as of Friday afternoon. Donations continue to be collected.

A steering committee for the fund, composed of local decision makers, will publish its proposal – known as a draft protocol – early next week and call for public comment, said Jeffrey Dion, executive director of the National Compassion Fund.

The donated money will go to families of the 10 people killed in the attack, as well as to those injured and those present in the store. The draft protocol will be a list of rules spelling out who is eligible to receive funds in each of those categories, Dion said. It will also lay out the timeline for the process, including the date of a town hall meeting at the end of the public comment period.

The proposal won't suggest how much money should go to recipients in each of those categories. Those decisions will be made once the total amount of donations is known.

Based on public input, the steering committee will decide whether to make any changes before finalizing the rules, Dion said. Then the application window will open. Those applications will be thoroughly reviewed before the money is distributed, which could take months.

The full list of the Buffalo 5/14 fund's committee members will be released next week. Dion said the committee has more than 25 members, putting it at the larger end for funds administered by the National Compassion Fund.

Dion was in Buffalo on Friday for a meeting of the steering committee. Afterward, family members of victims of the attack received a briefing and were invited to ask questions.

Dion said the Buffalo 5/14 fund's steering committee is well rounded.

"They've got people that are really involved in the community," he said. "We've got reps from the NAACP and the Urban League. We've got people from the neighborhood. We've got psychological trauma experts. We've got at least three ministers, so we've got the faith community tied in."

Dion said the online tracker of the Buffalo 5/14 fund shows donations actually received, but more money is coming in the form of checks and pledges.

"We're very pleased," he said. "But also from talking to folks. There's a big need. There's a lot of hurt, so we want to hold that fund open for donations as long as we can, so that we can help people as much as possible," he said.