Record set as millions of dollars pour in for families

More than $7 million has been raised online for victims of the Christchurch terror attack as those in charge of the money begin meeting to decide how best to distribute it.

About 70,000 donors flocked to one Givalittle page alone, raising more than $5.4m for the victims and families of Friday’s shootings in which a gunman killed 50 people at two Christchurch mosques and injured many others.

Such was the outpouring of support from ordinary Kiwis, the page started by the non-profit Victim Support group set a Givealittle record by raising $3.5m in its first 24 hours. A separate LaunchGood fundraising page managed by the NZ Islamic Information Centre had also collected almost $2m.

Elsewhere, New Zealand’s banking industry donated $1m to a new fund set up at the request of Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel.

Dr Anwar Sahib, chairman of the NZ Islamic Information Centre, said he was amazed by Kiwis’ generosity.

His group had run fundraising appeals before but not on this scale. The group would meet Victim Support and victims’ families to form a plan on how to disburse the money.

“We are trying to work with other groups that have done this before to get some help on how to get this money distributed to the victims and families as soon as possible,” he said.

While the sums pouring in have created logistical challenges for those behind the fundraising pages, it has also put the non-profit team behind the Givealittle fundraising website on high alert. So far 40 Givealittle pages had been set up to raise money for victims and families, with new ones “popping up every hour”, according to Robyn Lentell from Spark Foundation, which runs Givealittle.

Her entire team had worked through the weekend to ensure the flood of new pages was legitimate and to stop anybody from trying to scam or profit illegally.

Givealittle did this by “extensively” checking and moderating each page as it was set up and potentially asking those behind the campaign questions, such as: “who are you, how are you affected, is the use of the funds as transparent as possible?”

Pages yet to be moderated had large warnings flashed across the top.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern earlier said the Government would cover burial costs, while families could apply for financial help through the ACC.