How to make sure donations to FedEx mass shooting victims goes to the right people

It’s no secret, Hoosiers have big hearts. So, our community wants to help the families of the eight people killed in the mass shooting every way they can. And that often includes online donations.

WRTV spoke with one of the donation website organizers, who said their role makes sure scammers don’t con the community during a time of heartbreak.

Anita Busch is the president of Victim’s First.

“There’s so much chaos after this, that a lot of people don’t know what to do,” said Busch.

It’s an organization filled with family members of victims, who were killed during mass shootings. After the shooting in Indy, she said the organization quickly set up a donation website for the FedEx victims’ families.

“Because oftentimes after a mass shooting, all of these fraudulent funds are popping up, non-profits start collecting, and the funds never actually get directly to the victims that they’re intended,” said Busch.

Since then, they’ve raised about $8,000 and counting in donations.

Now that FedEx has set up the Go Fund me Page, called the Indianapolis 4/15 Survivors Fund, it’s guaranteed all of the donations will go to the victim's families of this mass shooting.

Busch said Victim’s First will transfer all $8,000 worth of the donations it raised into that Go Fund Me account.

For Busch, it’s a personal and professional mission to make sure donations go directly to impacted families.

WRTV asked Busch about her personal experience with mass shootings.

“In my family, we’ve had two mass shootings. One where my Micayla, my cousin was murdered in the Aurora theater shooting in 2012. And then Stacy my brother-in-law’s niece survived a mass shooting, by running for her life in Vegas, in 2017,” said Busch.

Since 2014, she’s helped so many other mass shooting families, that it’s hard to keep track…

“We’ve seen so much over the years… I’ve worked on … 26, 25 or 26 mass shootings, behind the scenes, helping victims. It’s exhausting work.”

Busch’s work with Victims First makes sure those families know all of the resources they have. That includes money families can receive from state and federal funding, for things like funeral expenses.

“Probably around 15-thousand dollars, but every state is different,” said Busch.

It’s a group no one wants to be a part of, but in Anita’s case, she’s turned tragedy into a helping hand … to make sure victim’s families receive financial support and can stand again.

“You learn to weave that hole into your heart,” said Busch. “We’re here for any questions and we won’t let you fall.”

FedEx has donated $1 million to the Go Fund Me account. At last check, the Indianapolis 4/15 survivor fund has reached, $1,217,000, and counting. On Tuesday, $11,000 was donated by NASCAR racer Denny Hamlin.