On Tuesday, an 18-year-old gunman killed at least 19 children and two adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The gunman was killed by a Border Patrol agent.
According to the Associated Press, this “was the deadliest shooting at a U.S. school since a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012.”
As the community — and the nation — continues to process the 27th school shooting and 213th mass shooting of the year, many wonder how they can help. We’ve compiled a list of options, but if you know of others please let us know.
Fundraisers
GoFundMe has verified a list of fundraisers and compiled them on a single page.
VictimsFirst, which is a network of families of mass shooting victims, has started a fund “to make sure that 100% of what is collected goes DIRECTLY to the victim base so the victims’ families and those wounded/injured are protected from fraud and exploitation,” its Texas fundraising page states. The fund has collected $2,859,700 of its $3M goal.
The Los Verdes Supporter Group has also created a fundraiser for victims’ families, the Cut reported.
Donate to a funeral home
Two funeral homes, Rushing-Estes Mortuary Uvalde and Hillcrest Memorial Funeral Home, have offered their services to families for no charge.
According to the Cut, donations “are also being collected for the funeral funds of the students who were killed, including Xavier Lopez, Jayce Luevanos, Jailah Silguero, Tess Marie Mata, Alithia Ramirez, Makenna Lee Elrod, and Nevaeh Bravo. You can also donate to the funeral fund of Irma Garcia, a fourth-grade teacher who taught at Robb Elementary for 23 years.”
More ways to help
Nurse.org suggests donating to local Uvalde businesses, many of which are run by parents whose children were killed Tuesday. “You can help support their businesses directly so they can stay afloat financially while they take care of family and process their enormous loss. The Uvalde Chamber of Commerce has a complete list of businesses you can choose from.”
NPR reported the Uvalde school district has opened an official account with First State Bank of Uvalde for affected families. You can mail a check, payable to the Robb School Memorial Fund, or make a donation through Zelle to robbschoolmemorialfund@gmail.com.
The Howard County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook that donations can be sent via a check to: Howard County Sheriff’s Office, 3613 W. Highway 80, Big Spring, Texas, 79720. Checks should be made payable to Uvalde County.
Donate blood
Blood donations are always needed. In most states you must be 17 years or older, or 16 with parental consent, weigh at least 110 pounds and in generally good health to be eligible to donate blood.
Locally, you can donate blood at one of the Red Cross’ donation centers.
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