Surprised. Blessed. Overwhelmed. Already gone.

Those were reactions from some of the 20 gunshot victims from the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade shootings who were awarded $1.2 million from the #KCStrong fund on Thursday, with individuals receiving payments ranging from $22,000 to $100,000.

Chris Rosson, president and CEO of the United Way of Greater Kansas City, said the payouts will help these survivors even while recognizing that gun violence like the Feb. 14 shootings happens in Kansas City every day, typically in low-income communities that are already under-resourced.

“When launching the fund, it was important for us to support first and foremost direct victims of the violence of that day, but also to drive critical financial resources to violence prevention and response organizations, to mental health supports, into first responders,” he said.

The shootings at the end of the rally near Union Station left 24 people injured and one dead. Lisa Lopez-Galvan, 43, a mother of two and a popular Tejano DJ, was killed.

Since the shootings, some victims and their families have incurred thousands of dollars in medical bills for emergency room treatment, ambulance rides, ongoing medical care for bullet wounds, or mental health counseling. Some are still struggling to return to work and are relying on a confusing patchwork of assistance from GoFundMe accounts and a group of local churches.

Erika Nelson, whose 15-year-old daughter, Mireya, was shot in the chin and shoulder at the parade, said that the money from the United Way is a blessing but that her daughter still struggles with the physical and emotional wounds of the violence.

“I don’t care how much money it is. It could be a million dollars. It could be a billion dollars. It’s never going to change what my daughter goes through every day,” Nelson said.

The #KCStrong fund was launched by the United Way on Feb. 15, fueled by a first donation of $200,000 made by the Chiefs, the NFL, and the Hunt family, which owns the team. The Kauffman Foundation and an anonymous person were listed as the top donors with $250,000 each.

The funds are unrestricted, so they can be used for medical bills, college funds for the children injured during the victory celebration, or anything else families need. Rosson said the group believed the victims and the people closest to them should decide how best to spend the money.

...continued

©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.