Big steps planned for distribution of Las Vegas shooting funds
No date has been set for when millions of dollars donated for the victims of the Las Vegas mass shooting will be distributed, but major steps forward in planning should be taken this week, Clark County Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak said Sunday.
“We’re turning this all over to a group of (Las Vegas) community leaders we’ll form to work with the experts on how to distribute it,” Sisolak said.
A GoFundMe online fundraiser created by Sisolak and Sheriff Joe Lombardo has raised more $10.2 million since the Oct. 1 shooting.
Clark County has partnered with the National Compassion Fund for an ongoing fundraiser, and Sisolak said several hotel-casino companies have pledged millions and are collecting money through their foundations.
To oversee the distribution of that money Sisolak and experts in victims’ compensation including Ken Feinberg and Camille Biros hope to combine all that money into a single fund. A special committee would then set protocols for determining how much money the families of the dead and injured will receive.
“Whoever administers this program it must entirely be pro bono. No one can make a dime off this program,” said Feinberg, a lawyer who has helped administer funds to victims of 9/11, the Boston Marathon bombing and the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida.
Feinberg pointed to One FundBoston, which distributed more than $80 million to Boston Marathon bombing victims, as a successful example of what should be done.
However, at a Thursday meeting some hotel-casino foundations appeared hesitant to put the donations they had accumulated into a single collection, Sisolak and Feinberg said.
Sisolak said he planned to meet with experts and representatives of the hotel-casinos again early this week to push for a single fund for distribution. He promised “total transparency” for any donations accumulated and distributed through a single fund.
“We’re trying to do everything we can to ensure every single penny is distributed to the individuals whose lives are impacted,” he said.
Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.