Outpouring of generosity

Donations to support victims hit record

Public donations to victims of the attacks has resulted in Givealittle’s biggest ever fundraising campaign since the site began in 2008.

More than 34,000 people have donated over $2.4 million, which has surpassed the previous Givealittle record of $2.25m to buy an Abel Tasman beach – but that was raised in six weeks.

Robyn Lentell from Spark Foundation, which runs Givealittle, said web developers were ‘‘up all night’’ on Friday making fixes to the site after the volume of traffic caused technical issues.

Spark Foundation staff also pitched in, and they received offers of help from around the world to get the site back up. They could never have predicted that level of donations, she said. ‘‘It’s great to see New Zealanders sending so much aroha at a time like this.’’

The page was set up by the NZ Council of Victim Support Groups, the government’s primary provider of support services for people affected by homicide.

They set up a second fundraiser on Everyday Hero so people could still donate while Givealittle was down.

‘‘We have been overwhelmed by the generosity and messages of support from Kiwis and around the world,’’ said Kevin Tso, chief executive at Victim Support.

The donations will be ringfenced to support those affected by Friday’s events.

A spokesman added the charity was developing a robust, broad plan to manage the funds – which could be used for emergency grants, counselling and extra support workers.

A further $1.1m has been raised through LaunchGood. The money will be distributed to families by the New Zealand Islamic Information Centre.

‘‘We have been overwhelmed by the generosity and messages of support from Kiwis and around the world.’’ – Victim Support chief executive Kevin Tso