Court asked to provide interim payment to the victims of Humboldt Broncos bus crash

SASKATOON — A court hearing has been rescheduled for Aug. 15 to provide victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash with $50,000 each from a massive fundraising campaign.

The Humboldt Broncos Memorial Fund Inc. will ask the Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench to approve the interim payment to the 13 survivors and the families of the 16 people who died in the crash on April 6.

The fund says that some of the families affiliated with the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League team are urgently in need of money.

A GoFundMe campaign was created immediately after the crash and received $15.2 million in donations from all over the world.

The hearing, which was initially set for Aug. 13, will also establish a committee to determine how the rest of the money will be distributed. It’s expected to go to victims in the coming months.

Court documents state the nonprofit group has received free professional services from its law firm, bank and accountants.

GoFundMe has deducted roughly $483,000 from the money raised to cover 2.9 per cent payment processing fees.

An additional $49,000 is being held back by GoFundMe in a temporary reserve in case any donors challenge their contribution.

The province of Saskatchewan has legislation known as the Informal Public Appeals Act, which outlines a court-supervised process to support the distribution of crowdfunding donations.