People directly affected by the deadly Aug. 4 mass shooting could receive financial compensation as early as Thanksgiving. The Dayton Foundation’s ongoing Oregon District Tragedy Fund has so far collected at least $3 million in donations.
Applications for compensation open October 1. The criteria for distribution is not yet finalized.
The Dayton Foundation’s Mike Parks says the highest priority for compensation will be given to the family members of the nine people killed in the attack. The remainder will go to people who sustained physical injuries requiring hospital treatment.
“There's nothing that the community can do to replace a loved one or the pain that individuals have gone through," he says. "But it is important, it's very important, for individuals to have a way, a means to show individuals that they care and to help in the healing process.”
The question of how to distribute the money from the Oregon District Tragedy Fund is the subject of two public hearings scheduled for Monday, Sept. 16 from 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m., and from 6 p.m. to 7:30 at Sinclair Community College.
For more information, visit the Dayton Foundation.
Members of a committee tasked with overseeing the Oregon District Tragedy Fund will be on hand at the hearings to gather public testimony about the fund and the distribution process.
The fund is expected to remain open until the end of October.
After that, the committee would evaluate applicants based on the criteria decided with the help of public input gathered during the hearings, and then allocate the distributions.
"As the committee charged with overseeing disbursements of the Dayton Oregon District Tragedy Fund, LLC we strove to develop a plan that is in the best interests of these individuals while upholding the intent of the thousands of charitable individuals who have generously made donations for the benefit of others," oversight committee co-chairs Brother Raymond L. Fitz, former President of the University of Dayton, and Dr. Gary LeRoy, associate dean for student affairs and admission at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine said in a statement.
Below is a draft protocol for distribution:
