New Zealand raises $10m for victims of Christchurch mosque shootings

Friday, 15 March 2019

Kiwis have rallied together to raise more than $2m for victims of the Christchurch mosque shootings.

Over $10 million has been raised for victims of the Christchurch terror attacks across three fundraisers.

As of Friday morning, Givealittle page has raised more than $7.7 million - the most ever for a campaign since Givealittle began in 2008 - with over 85,000 people donating.

More than $169,000 has also been donated to a fundraiser on Everyday Hero, which was set up after the volume of donations caused problems on the Givealittle site.

Both pages were set up by the NZ Council of Victim Support Groups, the government's primary provider of support services for people affected by homicide.

Christchurch shooting: Distressed women fear the worst for their loved ones in the mosque attack.

* All the money donated to Christchurch will go to victims

* How to show your support for victims of Christchurch shootings**

Another fundraiser on LaunchGood has raised more than $2.4m. The money will be distributed to families by the New Zealand Islamic Information Centre (NZIIC).

'No amount of money will bring back their loved ones, but we do hope to lessen their burden in some way,' a statement on the page said.

'This is an unprecedented fundraising response to an unprecedented tragedy in New Zealand and we thank everybody who has donated,' said Victim Support Chief Executive Kevin Tso.

'The amount we have raised is overwhelming and reflects the tragedy's widespread ripple effect and the human desire to help others in need.'

'We want to thank everyone who has given a donation so far. We have been overwhelmed by the generosity and messages of support from Kiwis and around the world,' said Tso.

Givealittle has also announced that all the money donated to victims will go directly to their families.

Givealittle normally takes a 5 per cent service fee on donations pages given via the site. However, a spokesperson for the organisation confirmed the entire service fee, including third-party transaction costs, would go to Victim Support.

Other pages have also been created to support individual victims of the mass shooting.

'Thank you to Westpac NZ and Payment Express who are sponsoring the third-party transaction costs and Spark Foundation who are covering the rest. This contribution amounts to at least $250,000 that will go directly to Victim Support,' a spokeswoman said.

'We would also like to thank our technology partner Amazon Web Services who are sponsoring the infrastructure upgrade our platform needed to support the unprecedented levels of traffic and donations we are experiencing.'

Kate Thomas from Spark Foundation spoke to More FM about the number of donations that have been received by Givealittle since Friday.

'Never in the history of Givealittle … have we seen anything quite like this.'

People have been flooding the page to make donations since Friday, with the small team of employees working around the clock to ensure the platform is capable of handling the large capacity of visitors and donors.

'We had more traffic and donations in three days than we usually get in three months,' Thomas said.

She hopes the generosity of all donors is far-reaching. 'I hope that the incredible display of generosity from New Zealanders and people from all around the world kind of goes some way to bringing some hope and light to this awful situation'

All donations received through the funds will be ringfenced to provide resources and support to those affected by last Friday's events.

Anyone affected by the incidents is encouraged to contact Victim Support on the 24-hour crisis line – 0800 VICTIM (0800 842 846).

'We understand how deeply unsettling these incidents are for many New Zealanders,' said Tso.

'We encourage people to show kindness through these difficult hours. Reach out to friends and family and offer support and reassurance.'

At least 49 people at two Christchurch mosques were killed in a terror attack.

POLICE ADVICE

Police urge people to not share 'disturbing' video on social media.

For anyone concerned about friends and family following the Christchurch terrorist attack, New Zealand Police have asked people to call 0800 115 019.