Launched by the LBGT civil rights organization Equality Florida, the campaign is the second biggest in history, after US$7 million was raised over several weeks for the 2015 Nepal natural disaster.
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In a statement, Bobby Whithorne, spokesman for GoFundMe, said the organization donated $100,000 to the Pulse victims’ campaign. “We do not know the total costs for the victims of this horrific hate crime, therefore are working to raise as much as possible and disperse the funds as fast as possible”. “The @gofundme campaign for the victims of the #PulseNightClubShooting has raised $3M and is now $1M more than the 2nd largest campaign ever”, he wrote via Twitter.
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Central Florida has also set up a GoFundMe page in an effort to “defray any expenses incurred by the victims and their families”.
Victims will get the money in about seven months, though Fernandez said the organization will attempt to deploy funds immediately for emergency situations.
GoFundMe is sometimes criticised in cases like this one for charging fundraisers an 8 per cent fee; in anticipation of that critique, perhaps, the site donated $US100,000 to the Equality Florida campaign this morning.
A crowdfunding campaign to support the Orlando Pulse shooting victims and their families has pulled in more than $4 million.
The initial goal was to raise $100,000, but donations hit $1 million in just 10 hours.
The repercussions of the deadliest shooting in USA history were felt in Sarasota, where a candlelight vigil was held Monday night in memory of victims of the attack on the Pulse.
Cricket Wireless donated $25,000 to the Orlando shooting GoFundMe campaign. Singer-songwriter Jeffree Star (one of the Orlando shooting GoFundMe campaign’s earliest donors), contributed $20,000.
In the days following the terror attack in Orlando, the nation’s focus has focused on the victims. The page has also raised more funds than any previous campaign, he added.
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What do you think about the overwhelming success of the Orlando shooting GoFundMe campaign? Do you plan to?
