Las Vegas Victims Fund lags behind Orlando’s Pulse fund
If the Las Vegas Victims Fund were to match the same proportion of payments paid out to the 299 victims and their families in Orlando, Florida, following the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016, then the fund would need at least $560 million.
Currently, the Las Vegas Victims Fund has more than $14 million across GoFundMe, the National Compassion Fund and an account at Nevada State Bank.
Many organizations and companies have also pledged donations but have not yet placed the money into these accounts.
The Las Vegas Victims Fund committee is working to formulate a draft protocol that will dictate who will get money and how.
Kenneth Feinberg, a victim-compensation expert, has volunteered to help guide the committee. Feinberg has assisted in distributing money in the aftermath of several tragedies, including the 9/11 attacks, the BP oil spill, the Boston Marathon bombings and the Pulse nightclub shooting.
The publicly available protocol in Orlando dictated that the fund was to be used to “assist those families of the victims who were killed, the victims who were physically injured and the victims who were physically present during the shootings” on June 12, 2016.
About $29 million was raised for survivors and families of victims. An additional $2 million was raised and distributed before the fund stopped disbursements.
Each of the families of the 49 people who died in the attack received about $350,000. The 68 people who were injured in the attack and were hospitalized within 48 hours for at least one night received almost $8 million combined. Disbursements for the injured were based on the number of overnight hospital stays. Funding was also available to those who were physically present inside the nightclub: 182 people received $25,000 each.
Jeff Dion, who has also helped distribute funds after several tragedies as deputy executive director of the National Center for Victims of Crime, is also providing guidance to the Las Vegas Victims Fund.
“Everyone is trying to figure what the process will be — if it will be different with a substantial larger pool of potential claimants,” Dion said.
In the Las Vegas attack, 58 people were killed and 546 were injured. About 22,000 people were present.
Contact Nicole Raz at nraz@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4512. Follow @JournalistNikki on Twitter. Review-Journal writer Alexander Cohen contributed to this report.