Toronto Strong fund payout breaks new ground for city
The city has seen an outpouring of support for those affected by the tragedy. First $500,000 given to victims of van rampage, as committee weighs how to spend remainder
The #TorontoStrong Fund is giving the first $500,000 it raised after the Yonge St. van rampageto victims of the attack and their families.
As for the remaining $2 million collected, how it will be distributed is still to be determined.
On the afternoon of April 23, a white van mounted sidewalks on Yonge St. between Finch and Sheppard Aves. and hit pedestrians, killing 10 and injuring 16. Alek Minassian is charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder.
Moved by the tragedy, members of the public gave generously to the #TorontoStrong Fund.
The initial payout from the fund will go toward funeral expenses, travel and accommodation, among other costs, said Julia Howell, vice-president of community engagement at the Toron- to Foundation, the organization behind the fund. A steering committee will decide how to divide up the rest next week, she said.
The money for victims is the first in a three-part strategy, Howell said. The rest is focused on “other people in the city that are impacted by an event like this.”
“You’re not going to take millions of dollars and give them to families,” said Howell. “There’d be no way to really responsibly steward that kind of money.”
The committee has not yet met, and more money may go to the victims, she said. The group includes representatives from the mayor’s office, the city of Toronto, the United Way of Greater Toronto, the Wellesley Institute, Manulife and the Canadian Women’s Foundation.
“We have looked at other cities around the world who have dealt with similar kinds of crises and they tend to be multi-tiered responses, because they recognize that the impact is significant on the city,” said Howell.
The second part of the fund’s plan, she said, is to look at the impact on the surrounding community, and “in what way can those funds support that healing.”
The third, Howell said, is “getting heads around the table to think thoughtfully about how these funds can make a difference ... and how can these funds help people better understand the implications of a crime like this.
“Is it possible for us to actually think really big picture and think about prevention? To what extent does our system of support for those with mental illnesses factor into a response? What about misogyny?”
Sandra Train, a lawyer representing one of the victims’ families, said all the money should go to the victims’ families.
“When you’re fundraising for them, you expect that you’re going to be funding that poor grandmother or that poor university student,” she said. “You’re not expecting it’s funding some flower bed in memory of.”
The Mayor's office has a representative on the steering committee that will allocate the funds.
“The #TorontoStrong Fund was created to ensure generous donations from individuals, corporate citizens and community organizations motivated to help after the terrible tragedy on Yonge Street reach those who need it most,” said the Mayor in a press release. “We will work with our partners to ensure this Fund is distributed in a thoughtful, impactful and accountable manner and thank all those who continue to support our City through these donations.”
Liah Tesfamariam, niece of victim Amaresh Tesfamariam, who remains hospitalized after the rampage, said it has been expensive for her family to stay by her elderly aunt’s side, but “it’s pennies on the dollar compared to the value that we get of being here for Amaresh.”
The community’s generosity is “overwhelming,” Liah Tesfamariam said. As for the rest of the money, she says she wants the fund to “do right by the donors.”
“I want all their needs to be met,” she said of the other victims and their families. “They need it. Everybody needs it.”
Some victims are receiving funding from other sources, but are still experiencing financial stress.
Amir Kiumarsi, a distinguished scientist and chemistry lecturer at Ryerson University, was seriously injured in the van rampage. Had he been a tenure-track professor at the institution, he would be eligible for up to 66 days of sick leave at full salary, according to a copy of the Ryerson Faculty Association’s collective agreement posted online.
But as a contract lecturer, he is only entitled to what’s provided under Ontario law: 10 days emergency leave, two of them paid.
An email obtained by the Star circulated Friday by the Ryerson Faculty Association to university staff urges contributions to a GoFundMe page set up for Kiumarsi by his union, CUPE 3904.
The GoFundMe initiative so far raised more than $35,000 for Kiumarsi. The Ryerson Faculty Association has donated $1,000.
Toronto resident Russell Scott said he made a $9 donation to the #TorontoStrong fund through the LCBO in the past week. While small, he wants assurance that his contribution will go directly to the injured and grieving families.
“I’m on a limited budget, but I thought it was a worthwhile cause,” he said.
According to Howell, the funds will be divided as such:
Up to $15,000 will be allocated for each of the 10 funerals for victims who died. That money can also be used for repatriation.
Up to $10,000 will be provided for travel and accommodation for each family.
Up to $200 a week will be allocated for food, parking, and taxis for individual family members travelling to Toronto from out of town.
$500 will be allocated for clothes.
$200 for cellphone costs for international families.
One of the families declined the money.
Historically, donation funds collected after a tragedy go, almost entirely, to the families of the victims and the injured, often spearheaded by an administrative team, and released in increments. After the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, $29.5 million (U.S.) was raised and split among 299 families and survivors. On average, families of the 49 killed received $350,000 each from the OneOrlando Fund. The 68 survivors received between $35,000 to $300,000 each.
Another 182 clubgoers who were there when the June 12 shootings started, but who escaped physical injury, received about $25,000 each. The We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, created in response to the Manchester Arena bombing raised over £11 million, £4 million of which was divided between the families worst affected by the attack.
Initially, £1 million was shared between bereaved families of victims who were in hospital for more than seven days. Then a further £3 million was released for those families that were in the hospital for over a week.