Helping and healing

Tree of Life donations cross $10 million

It has been more than three months since the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue, which claimed 11 lives. Eager to help individuals, communities and organizations recover in the wake of this tragedy, people began donating money. Some donated a dollar. Others donated six figures. As the donations continue to roll in, more than $10 million has been raised by nearly a dozen organizations.

“People just wanted to help,” Adam Hertzman, spokesman for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, told the Post-Gazette’s Sean D. Hamill. “The giving has been an expression of their grief and an expression of their desire to help and heal.”

A great deal of the donations are being used for acts of compassion. For instance, the victims’ fund administered by the Jewish Federation has raised $5.7 million. According to the organization, that money will go toward “psychological services, support for families ... medical bills, as well as counseling and other services that may prove necessary for victims and first responders during their recovery.”

But much of the donated money has also been earmarked for forward-thinking projects. Among them are plans for reconstructing parts of Tree of Life, which was greatly damaged in the attack, and improving security in the nearby community.

As the exact plans for this money are hashed out further in the coming months, those who donated will be able to hold their heads up high. The grief in the wake of the Tree of Life shooting was enormous, far too much for any one person or group to bear. But the City of Pittsburgh, and people from all over the world, rose to the occasion, helping to offset some of that pain. By helping one another, we can now begin to heal one another.