MIAMI — To help fund a national gun control movement, a small group of South Florida students who survived the worst high school shooting in U.S. history set up a modest website Sunday and created a GoFundMe account to pursue an ambitious goal: raise $1 million.
They received more than three times that amount. In four days.
In a sign of just how much momentum they have, the students who survived the Valentine’s Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland have amassed donations from more than 18,000 people backing the #NeverEnough movement and the March For Our Lives, an anti-gun-violence protest they’re planning on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The money has poured in from all over the country, escalating to seven figures before the young organizers could even set up a foundation to fund.
By Tuesday, the pot was nearing $1.5 million. And then Hollywood celebrities Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and George Clooney committed a half-million dollars. Each.
With $3.5 million suddenly at their disposal, this core group of roughly 20 teenagers — still grieving the loss of 17 classmates and school mentors — has enough money to fund a national march and a revolution. They’re now beginning to consider the long game: a lasting movement to keep the pressure on pro-gun politicians and the National Rifle Association.
“Donations will be used to pay the expenses associated with the (March 24) March For Our Lives gathering in Washington, D.C., and to provide resources for young people organizing similar marches across the country,” a spokeswoman for March for Our Lives told the Miami Herald. “Any leftover funds will go towards supporting a continuing, long-term effort by and for young people to end the epidemic of mass shootings that has turned our classrooms into crime scenes.”
With the emergence of celebrity benefactors, the march has suddenly developed Hollywood ties. But despite conspiracy theories fostered by far-right blogs and pundits that liberal gun control groups are using Parkland survivors as pawns for their cause, the #NeverEnough movement has so far been an organic, loosely organized phenomenon.
Teenagers like Cameron Kasky, Emma Gonzalez, Alex Wind and David Hogg — all of whom have received enormous media attention since the shooting — seized a moment when the country was mesmerized in horror and called for action.
At first, they weren’t even planning on seeking donations, said Kasky’s father, Jeff Kasky. But then they decided to pursue the national rally, and things steamrolled after their announcement. Kasky said his son sought out to raise $1 million only after he and his friends did some basic research on the costs of organizing a rally in Washington, D.C.
“That’s where the money is going,” Jeff Kasky said. “They’re being directed by people with knowledge of how to responsibly spend this money and it’s going to be very transparent. Every penny is going to be accounted for.”
With Clooney’s help, Kasky said the group has brought in some attorneys, some administrative help and a public relations firm, 42 West. This week, they expect to establish the March For Our Lives Foundation in order to deposit all donations to the cause.
Kasky said Clooney spoke to the students’ parents Tuesday, during which the actor helped allay some concerns about “whether there would be an adult in the room.” But he stressed that while Clooney is helping, he isn’t running the show. “These people putting their money in — not a single one of them has said anything along the lines of ‘I’ll donate but you have to listen to what I say.’ Nobody is pulling the strings for these kids,” Kasky said. “I have to make clear: (Clooney) is not directing them, nor is anybody.”
A permit application for the National Mall filed Monday by Katz shows organizers are expecting 500,000 people to arrive by 20 buses and public transportation. They plan to erect 14 Jumbotrons, and 20 tents. The event will feature student speakers, musical performers, guest speakers and video tributes.
The donations to the march fund are only part of the picture. A GoFundMe page for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting victims has also raised at least $1.8 million, with donors from all 50 states and over 50 countries.