Broncos announce plans for $12 million in donation money

GOFUNDME PAGE TO CLOSE IN TWO DAYS

The GoFundMe page dedicated to the Humboldt Broncos, believed to be the largest of its kind in Canadian history, will remain open for two more days before being transferred to a newly created memorial fund, the team’s officials announced Monday.

More than 130,000 individuals and businesses from Canada and other countries have donated between $20 and $50,000 to the GoFundMe campaign, called Funds for Humboldt Broncos. The campaign was started by Humboldt resident Sylvie Kellington after the horrific bus crash earlier this month, which killed 16 players and staff. In nine days, the online campaign has raised more than $12 million.

Humboldt Broncos president Kevin Garinger announced at a news conference in Saskatoon that the campaign will remain open until midnight Wednesday, at which point all funds will be transferred to the new Humboldt Broncos Memorial Fund. The $12 million raised will serve its intended purpose of paying for expenses of the victims’ families, Garinger said, adding that it’s too soon to give a more specific breakdown of the way the funds will be allocated.

“Sylvie was hoping to raise $5,000 to maybe buy coffee and support maybe parking, and that sort of thing, to help families,” he said. “It of course grew much larger than that.”

Garinger also said the team will continue to accept donations through another new organization, the Humboldt Strong Community Foundation, which he said will “support Humboldt Broncos players, employees, families and volunteers, as well as first responders and emergency services personnel, teams, athletes, related organizations and communities affected by the crash.”

The creation of the new foundation will clear up any existing confusion about which memorial items are considered to be sanctioned by the team. From now on, only initiatives that direct their proceeds to the Humboldt Strong Community Foundation will be considered officially endorsed by the Broncos as an organization, Garinger said.

In recent days, concerns have been mounting about the sale of unauthorized merchandise that uses the team’s name, logo, or the slogan “Humboldt Strong” without donating any of the funds to the victims or their families.

It’s common for people to want to buy items that will allow them to show their support after a tragic event, says Timothy Dewhirst, a marketing and consumer studies professor at the University of Guelph.

“There’s often, after a tragedy like this, different displays of support and solidarity that we might see,” he said. “We’ve seen a lot of people displaying green ribbons and displaying hockey sticks at their front door.”

But the potential problem with unauthorized merchandise is that consumers may assume that any sale connected to an event like the bus crash includes a donation, when not all of them do.

Online retailers like Redbubble, which allow users to upload their own designs and pays them a portion of the profits, offer dozens of T-shirt designs featuring Humboldtrelated logos, as well as cellphone cases, mugs, tote bags, and more, but the products don’t mention donations of any kind. Redbubble did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Other websites like Teepublic and Teezily, which also allow users to upload their own work, similarly offer many Humboldt Broncos products, most of which don’t mention a donation, although some products do link to the GoFundMe page.

In cases like this, the responsibility is shared between the retailer and the consumer, Dewhirst says.

The choice to sell products that reference the bus crash but don’t benefit any of the victims “certainly doesn’t appear very ethical,” he says. “Many (people) would have a moral stance on trying to capitalize financially on a tragedy.”

Dewhirst also suggests consumers research charitable products before purchasing them. If proceeds are “largely being used in terms of administration and logistics, rather than actually going to the people in need, that would be a disappointing use of the money,” he says.

Merchandise doesn’t necessarily have to be officially authorized by the team to provide a charitable function. Some companies like Gongshow Gear and Sauce Hockey are advertising that 100 per cent of the proceeds of the Humboldtthemed shirts they sell will go to the Bronco’s GoFundMe page.