After the tragedy that hit the City of Orlando this past month, the country came together to support those that were affected by sending prayers, kind words, and donations. In order to properly collect and distribute these donations to the victims, survivors, and their families, Mayor Buddy Dyer and Mayor Teresa Jacobs created the OneOrlando Fund.
County CommissionerBryan Nelson
County Commissioner Bryan Nelson recently explained the process to The Apopka Voice.
"In order to distribute these funds properly the City of Orlando has acquired help from Attorney Kenneth R. Feinberg, considered an expert on victim compensation, as well as the National Compassion Fund, a program for victims of mass shootings. These funds will be dispersed to those affected in a transparent manner to allow the community to see where their money is being given."
Mr. Feinberg has previously overseen the distribution of funds for the September 11th terrorist attacks, the Boston Marathon Bombing and the BP Oil Spill.
The timeline of the distribution process is as follows:
Mr. Feinberg will meet with the OneOrlando Fund board to outline the process of distributing funds. This will then be shared with the public.
On August 4, 2016 there will be two town hall meetings held at the Amway Center to get public feedback on the draft.
A final process for distribution will then be finalized based on the feedback received from the public at the town hall meetings.
The process will be on OneOrlando.org along with claim forms for the victims, survivors, and their families. A deadline for these forms will be announced at a later date.
Payments will be distributed by October 1, 2016.
No overhead or administrative costs will be taken from the OneOrlando Fund.
The OneOrlando board, created for fund oversight, is comprised of Orlando residents including those in the Hispanic and LGBTQ Community. The board is chaired by Orlando Magic President, Alex Martins. The board includes; Rena Langley, Diane O’Dell, Stephanie Ghertner, Mark Meyer, Paul F. Bryan, Jennifer Foster, Diana Bolivar, Carlos Carbonell, Ken Robinson, Mark Shamley, Michael Farmer, Tim Vargas, Chris McCullion and Walter G. Hawkins.
Equality Florida, the GLBT Community Center of Central Florida and the National Compassion Fund declared their partnership with the OneOrlando Fund to guarantee that funds are disbursed fairly. As of July 1, the organizations combined have raised over $17 million with Disney being a top contributor, donating $1 million.
Many restaurants in the Orlando area also put forth the effort to raise funds by participating in a Dine Out for Orlando United event where proceeds from the day’s sales would be donated to the OneOrlando Fund. Over 100 restaurants participated in this event on June 30, 2016. On July 19th from 5 – 9p.m the Orlando Science Center will be donating 100 percent of its general admission fees to the OneOrlando Fund.
While the victims and survivors are waiting on funds from the OneOrlando project, The Orlando United Assistance center is available for immediate assistance. The center was set up Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs, City of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Orange County and City of Orlando Commissioners, representatives from the LGBTQ Community, the Director of Mental Health Services for Orange County: Donna Wyche and representatives from the Hispanic/Latino Community. The center will work with those affected to help them move forward after this tragedy. For an appointment call 407-500-HOPE or visit cityoforlando.net/hope
To make a donation, checks may be made payable to OneOrlando Fund and sent to OneOrlando, PO Box 4990 Orlando, FL 32802, text ORLANDO to 501501 to make a $10 donation or visit the OneOrlando Fund website at www.oneorlando.org.
For more information about the OneOrlando Fund visit www.oneorlando.org or contact info@oneorlando.org.
