Buffalo Together fund to distribute $560,000 in grants

The grants range from $5,000 to $20,000 and will begin to be distributed in the coming days, organizers said.

The Buffalo Together fund is a collaboration of 15 local funders and is being coordinated by the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo and the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County. It is separate from the Buffalo 5/14 Survivors Fund, which is collecting donations for survivors of those killed, as well as those injured and traumatized in the attack.

The Buffalo Together fund says it has received $3 million in financial commitments from nearly 50 local and national corporations and foundations, as well as over 1,100 individuals from around the country who have sent checks or made online donations.

The fund says it has identified three general areas of support: a focus on Black-led organizations that are working directly in the community; ensuring availability of mental health services; and addressing longer-term, systemic issues of racial justice.

“There was a collective desire by the funding community to come together to support our Jefferson community in the wake of this horrific racially motivated hate crime, and we recognized that our first priority was to start with support for Black-led organizations that are on the frontlines serving critical needs, often with unequitable resources,” said Clotilde Perez-Bode Dedecker, president and CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. “We are committed to engaging with the community going forward to address long-term rebuilding.”

“Convening partners and activating resources in the face of community crisis is what United Way was built to do," says Michael Weiner, president and CEO, United Way of Buffalo & Erie County. "These initial investments are the first step in a community-led process of listening, learning and rebuilding, made possible by an outpouring of generous support from our community.”