AURORA — The families of some victims in the Aurora theater shooting are asking for the more than $5 million in donations to go directly to victims and their families.
Donations to the Aurora Victim Relief Fund have begun to make their way to some of the families of the 12 people killed and 58 injured in the theater shooting on July 20.
Acting as a spokesman for a large group of victims and victims' families, Tom Teves, the father of slain victim Alex Teves, read a statement at a news conference in Aurora.
"We are here because we want the public to know what's been going on behind the scenes," Teves said.
He said he is humbled by "the generosity of the American public" that donated more than
$5 million in the days that followed the mass shooting in Aurora. He also noted that the money had been solicited "using the names and faces of our loved ones.""I am certain that the public intended 100 percent of those donations to go to the families of victims, and to use that money to help the healing process," Teves said.
Teves said the families expected the victims would be defined as anyone in the theater or in the building where James Holmes lived and allegedly rigged his own apartment with explosives
"Unfortunately that does not appear to be the case," Teves said.
The 7/20 Recovery Committee, a group of government officials and community organizations tasked with distributing the remaining $4.6 million, has not selected leadership. On Aug. 17, the committee said it had distributed $350,000 through the Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance to those affected by the shooting. That money was delivered in $5,000 checks to 70 victims, Teves said. He said his family has not received any money from the fund.
Chantel Blunk, whose husband was shot and killed, said she received a check but was told the $5,000 was the last payment she would receive.
She said COVA refused to pay for plane tickets for her young children to travel with her to Colorado from Reno, Nev. She said the organization also told her that this was the last ticket she would receive.
Eighteen family members crammed onto the tiny stage at the Aurora Summit. Eleven of the 12 families whose loved ones were killed in the shooting were represented.
The families are asking to have a meeting with COVA on Friday.
Teves said that Giving First told families that giving money to some families would "pit families against each other."
"We shouldn't have to beg to get a little voice," Teves said. "They used our children's pictures, our dead children's pictures."
An additional $100,000 went to 10 Aurora community nonprofits.
COVA distributed the funds without the victims' input, Teves said.
Families are asking for more transparency in distributing funds and have offered to work with the 7/20 Recovery Committee to assure that 100 percent of the funds go directly to the victims. The committee does not have a victim on the board, Teves said.
"This is incomprehensible of what we have to do," Teves said. "Our loved ones are either dead or injured and we have to fight and stand up for them."
"What we are demanding is a robust voice in how this is implemented," he said. "The victims have no voice in this at all."
Families are also calling on Gov. John Hickenlooper to follow through on his pledge to assist the victims.
"This is not about the money," said Melisa Cowden, whose former husband, Gordon Cowden, 51, was killed in the theater. "I have four kids who will go through the rest of their lives without their dad."
