Chamber Raises more than $140,000 for Market Victims

By Mark McGuigan
Staff Writer

September 2 -- A month-and-a-half after a runaway driver left ten people dead and more than 50 injured at the Farmers Market, a wounded community continues to honor the victims and their families with an outpouring of contributions.

The Santa Monica Farmers Market Victims Assistance Fund -- established by the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce a mere 24 hours after the tragedy occurred -- has raised more than $140,000 to provide financial assistance for the surviving victims and for the families of those who died.

“It’s amazing how everybody stepped forward,” said Kathryn Dodson, president and CEO of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce. “I’m very, very proud of the money this community has raised.”

A river of green has poured into the fund from every strata of society in the weeks following the calamity, including a donation from movie star Tom Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, who donated $5,000, said Dodson, who helps oversee the collection.

Although donations vary in size, the Chamber welcomes every cent. “We had one man walk up and give a $1,000 check and a small child walk up with $1,” Dodson said. “It was pretty heart-wrenching being at Farmers Market, people needed to talk.”

Checks for $10,000 have been rolling in from some of the city's largest banks -- Wells Fargo, Bank of America, US Bank and First Federal Bank of California -- as well as from the Macerich Company, which owns Santa Monica Place.

And every penny collected goes directly to the victims and their families, as banks and credit card companies pitch in by waiving all transaction fees, Dodson said.

Applicants apply for financial assistance by completing a short application form outlining their loss and stating what expenses, medical or otherwise, they would like help to recoup. How much a victim’s family gets is purely circumstantial, according to Dodson.

“It completely depends on the circumstances,” Dodson said. In one instance more than $5,000 went to transport a body back to New York and pay burial expenses there.

Although the fund is open to anyone directly touched by the tragedy, there have been instances when appeals for money have been tenuous.

Dodson recalls one attorney who told the Chamber that his client only realized he had been injured a full two weeks after the event. Another request for cash came from a woman claiming she was affected by watching the events on television.

“We try and be really careful about how much information we put out," Dodson said. "We know who the victims really are.”

The chamber will host a special membership luncheon next Tuesday to honor those individuals and corporations who donated to the fund.

"This isn't a moneymaker for us," Dodson said. "It's just very important that some of these stories get told and that we thank those who need to be thanked."

Admission to the lunch is $25 pre-paid and $30 with reservation (pay at the door). For more information call 393-9825 ext.10.

People wishing to make a donation to the fund can do so by sending a check made payable to "Santa Monica Farmers Market Victims Assistance Fund,” to: P.O. Box 51943, Los Angeles, CA 90051-6243. Donations can be made online by visiting the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce Web site.