You Can Donate To The Parkland Shooting Victims & Protests & Here's How
The students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and the community of Parkland, Florida are doing their best to make sure that the mass shooting that took 17 lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday, Feb. 14 is not another statistic. The students have become especially galvanized by this tragedy, and what they want is simple: They want change. They want change that creates stronger gun control laws, and they want to change the narrative following a mass school shooting. These students are about taking action, and you can easily help their cause. Read on to learn how to donate to the Parkland shooting victims and protests.
Donating to the students' causes and to the other costs (like hospital bills) that are now the burden of victims and their families is a simple way to help the Parkland community. The horrific events of Feb. 14 forever changed the lives of the students, teachers, and parents who were affected when a shooter opened fire at the Parkland high school. In addition to the 17 lives lost, many others were rushed to the hospital, some with life-threatening injuries.
Donate To The Victims
One student, 15-year-old Anthony Borges, was listed in critical condition at Broward Health North Hospital after the shooting, according to The Sun-Sentinel. Borgess was shot five times, and even though his life-threatening injuries have healed enough to now list him in fair condition, he still has more surgeries needed to assist a full recovery.
You can donate to Borges' GoFundMe page to help his family with the rising medical costs. While you're there, you'll learn that Borges was shot as he reportedly tried to close and lock a classroom door to save nearly 20 of his classmates. His heroic actions led to, among other injuries, the shattering of his left upper thigh bone and a bullet through his back, so any little bit helps Borges on his road to recovery.
You can find more individuals in need of donations when you visit the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School general GoFundMe webpage. You'll find a comprehensive list of all verified GoFundMe pages created as a result of the shooting.
The pages range from memorial funds set up by the families of slain students — like the fund set up in honor of 17-year-old Meadow Pollack who would have graduated from Stoneman Douglas this June — to GoFundMe pages set up to support the families of victims, like the Feis family. 37-year-old football coach Aaron Feis was killed during the shooting as he hovered over students to protect them from the bullets, according to reports, and with his death, he leaves behind a wife and daughter.
To offer more financial relief to victims and their families, you can donate to the Stoneman Douglas Victims' Fund GoFundMe page. Immediately following the shooting, 17 people were rushed to Broward Health North Hospital. The Sun-Sentinel reported on Sunday, Feb. 18 that there are still two patients in fair condition at Broward Health North Hospital, and there are two patients in fair condition at Broward Health Medical Center.
Funds raised through the Stoneman Douglas Victims' Fund go toward providing "relief and financial support" to the victims and families who are living in the aftermath of this horrific shooting. The Broward Education Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization, created the page, and ensures donators that "100 percent of the funds collected after payment processing charges will go directly to the victims and families," so you know that your donation will go to the right place.
Donate to the Protests
The students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas have organized a march focused on putting an end to gun violence and mass shootings in schools. The March For Our Lives will take place on March 24, 2018 in Washington D.C. This is a huge undertaking for these newly minted student-activists, and you can donate to the cause at the March For Our Lives GoFundMe page.
Created by Cameron Kasky and some of his fellow classmates, the donations given to the GoFundMe page will go toward the organization of the march, and any leftover funds will be deposited into victims' funds.
The students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas are some of the most impressive teenagers I've ever seen. After their school was rocked by this tragedy, they immediately began speaking out against the current gun laws to hopefully ensure that their classmates did not die in vain.
With an energized Marjory Stoneman Douglas student body, it appears that real change to gun control laws might be possible this time around. You can donate to do your part, and you can join these brave students at the March For Our Lives in Washington D.C.
No matter which cause you donate to or how much you are able to give, you can feel good knowing that you are helping a great cause that hopes to implement change that will hopefully make Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School the last mass shooting in U.S. history.
