As of Sept. 13, the fund had raised roughly $185,000 for local nonprofits and government agencies that have and continue to assist local survivors. These donations also go towards offsetting costs gained by these local organizations. There were only four applications so far, said Ravyn Smith, the senior vice president of marketing and development of the nonprofit.
“As soon as we heard there was the fire and the governor [called] state of emergency, we were like, ‘Ok, we need to open a fund and be ready just in case this lasts longer.’ And it ended up lasting a lot longer,” Smith said.
This fund is similar to one the organization set up during COVID, Smith said.
Applications that are submitted to the organization are reviewed by a team of community volunteers. The funds will get dispersed once they are approved.
KUNR’s Ember Braun is a student at the Reynolds School of Journalism.
