4 Concrete Ways To Help Victims Of The Covenant School Shooting
Here are a handful of organizations working to help Covenant victims and their families, and to stop gun violence.
On Monday, March 28, a shooter opened fire at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, killing six people — three 9-year-old children, Hallie Scruggs, William Kinney, and Evelyn Dieckhaus; and three adults, 60-year-old Katherine Koonce, the head of school; 61-year-old Mike Hill, the school custodian; and 61-year-old Cynthia Peak. Covenant is a private elementary school serving students from pre-kindergarten through sixth grade.
The Nashville community, as well as the nation as a whole, is left reeling after yet another senseless mass shooting — the 19th school shooting so far in 2023 and the deadliest since last year’s devastating Uvalde, Texas, shooting, which took the lives of 19 children and two teachers.
As families mourn and survivors are left to pick up the pieces of shattered lives, it seems that lawmakers are no closer to repairing our broken system than we were after Uvalde last year, after Marjorie Stoneman Douglas five years ago, after Sandy Hook 10 years ago, or after Columbine 24 years ago; 175 people have died in school shootings since the 1999 Columbine massacre.
Meanwhile, our local, state, and federal governments are unwilling or unable to provide the protections our children need to go to school safely each day to be confident in the protections provided by our laws. They are forced to try to learn while carrying with them the knowledge that there is nothing stopping someone from entering their school with a deadly weapon and murdering them or their friends.
As we, as a nation, process tragedy again, mourn with families again, rage against ineffective governance again, beg and plead, pull our hair out, punch the walls, rattle the cage, and scream at the top of our lungs for our children to be protected, as we are forced to stand by and watch as babies are murdered, ripped from their families over and over and over again, we feel helpless. But there are countless organizations helping families right now in Nashville and nationwide. Here are some places you can donate to help those affected, even if prevention feels impossible in today’s America.
Support Covenant School Shooting Victims
The Support Covenant School Shooting Victims fundraiser was started by ViVe health care conference. The conference, organized by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and HLTH, was being held in Nashville during the shooting.
“Together, CHIME and HLTH have pledged to commit a combined $50,000 donation on behalf of ViVE for the victims and their families,” reads the group’s GoFundMe page. “In addition, ViVE is launching this GoFundMe page for conference attendees and the entire healthcare community to help contribute to the families impacted. ViVE will ensure that all funds contributed will be donated to the designated relief funds associated with this tragedy.”
At this time, the campaign has raised more than $59,000. To donate to this fundraiser, visit its GoFundMe.
Nashville Covenant School Shooting Fund
The Nashville Covenant School Shooting Fund is a fundraiser organized by Victims First, a nonprofit made up of survivors of mass shootings and other mass casualty events nationwide. Victims First believe that transparency in donation and fundraising is vital to protect those affected from being re-victimized by unethical fundraising scams.
From the fundraiser page: “We, VictimsFirst (our network of families of the deceased and survivors from over two decades of previous mass shootings), have started this fund to make sure that 100% of what is collected goes DIRECTLY to the victim base so the victims’ families and those wounded/injured are protected from fraud and exploitation.”
At this time, the campaign has raised more than $71,000. To donate to this fundraiser, visit its GoFundMe.
Caring for Covenant Fund
The Caring for Covenant Fund was established by the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. This foundation supports communities through donor funds and grants throughout middle Tennessee and parts of Kentucky.
From the fundraiser page: “Because of the outpouring of love from our generous and thoughtful community, we have established the Caring for Covenant Fund to manage the donations made in response to this tragedy. All donations made to the Fund, minus credit card fees, will be directed to The Covenant School to support the healing of those affected by this tragedy.”
To donate to this fundraiser, visit the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee webpage.
Donate to Gun Control Advocacy Organizations
If you’d like to donate to one of the many organizations out there fighting for changes to America’s lenient firearm laws, it’s important to make sure they are legitimate advocacy groups. Though it may not feel like the same kind of instant response as donating directly to families, these groups take the long view and work tirelessly to get old laws changed and new laws in place.
Moms Demand Action, Everytown for Gun Safety, and Sandy Hook Promise are three verified, vetted, and legitimate organizations that are fighting to change our nation’s laws, and culture, around guns.
