An LGBTQ-owned auto shop started an online fundraiser to cover $25,000 in funeral costs for Club Q shooting victims. In 2 days, donors raised nearly $700,000.

• Nov. 20, 5 individuals had been killed and 18 had been injured at a shooting at ClubQ in Colorado Springs.
• Hours after the assault, enterprise proprietor Faith Haug started a GoFundMe marketing campaign for the victims.
• Donors raised $25,000 in simply two hours. At the time of this writing, donors raised nearly $700,000.

On November 20, 5 individuals had been killed and 18 had been injured at an LGBTQ membership shooting in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Hours after the shooting, Faith Haug, co-owner of auto shop Good Judy Garage in a close-by city known as Sheridan, tried to learn how to donate cash to ClubQ. She co-owns the shop together with her companion CC Haug, the lead mechanic who runs every day operations.

“We heard about the shooting Sunday morning and went to make a donation. We couldn’t find anywhere to donate to,” Haug instructed Insider. “Some of our employees have been to ClubQ, so it made sense for us to start a fund.”

Haug created a GoFundMe marketing campaign, and donors raised $25,000 in two hours

Haug created a GoFundMe page for the victims of the ClubQ shooting. She shared the marketing campaign on her Good Judy Garage’s Instagram page, which, on the time, had lower than 4,000 followers. “Our social media following took off with it,” she says.

In simply two hours, donors raised $25,000. An hour later, donations totaled $50,515. “I’m crying in a coffee shop. This community is unrivaled,” Haug wrote in an Instagram caption.

She then started elevating the marketing campaign aim in $50,000 and $100,000 increments. “We are nearing 400k in funds — this is incredible and so appreciated,” wrote Haug in a GoFundMe replace posted on Monday, November 21. At 1 p.m., the marketing campaign handed $500,000 in donations.

The marketing campaign raised nearly $700,000 in two days

At the time of this writing, the marketing campaign raised $686,596 with over 17,600 donors. The funds raised are a testomony to the facility of the LGBTQ+ group and their allies on social media.

“Queers take care of queers,” writes donor Elle Billman in the feedback. Another donor named Sonya Murphy writes, “It could have been my kid, her girlfriend, their friends, my coworker’s son… Thanks for organizing, my heart breaks for everyone involved and the entire LGBTQIA+ Community.”

Haug provides, (*2*)

Haug is working with an LGBTQ+ legislation agency to disburse the funds to the victims

From the beginning, Haug’s intention was to cross any funds raised to the households of those that had been killed first, then direct any further donations to the injured victims. Now with six figures to handle, the duty of disbursing cash to the victims is extra difficult than she anticipated.

“It sounds like an astronomical amount of money,” she mentioned, “but when you consider medical bills, it really isn’t. The funeral expenses for five people will potentially be six figures. Even one person’s medical bills could be six figures, and there’s 18 injured.”

Haug added a type to the GoFundMe web page for victims to join together with her. The marketing campaign web page says victims’ names and phone data won’t be shared publicly. In the meantime, she is working with an LGBTQ+ legislation agency to equitably disburse funds to victims and their households, with out taking a share of the donations. This is Haug’s first time managing a marketing campaign that has raised six figures in donations in simply two days.

Some donors have pulled their donations as a result of they thought funds weren’t being disbursed quick sufficient. Haug mentioned in response, “It hasn’t even been 48 hours. GoFundMe takes five business days at least to transfer funds. We are doing everything we can to move things along, but we just ask that people be patient and understanding that this is a large amount of money.”