Two weeks ago, 19 children and two teachers were killed during a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Their names were: Nevaeh Alyssa Bravo (10), Jacklyn Cazares (9), Makenna Lee Elrod (10), Jose Manuel Flores Jr. (10), Eliahna Garcia (10), Irma Garcia (48), Uziyah Garcia(10), Amerie Jo Garza (10), Xavier Lopez (10), Jayce Carmelo Luevanos (10), Tess Mat (10), Maranda Mathis (11), Eva Mireles (44), Alithia Ramirez (10), Annabell Rodriguez (10), Maite Rodriguez (10), Alexandria “Lexi” Rubio (10), Layla Salazar (11), Jailah Nicole Silguero (10), Eliahana Cruz Torres (10), Rojelio Torres (10).
There are many ways to help mourning families and those who were injured during the shooting. Below are only a few suggestions.
Here’s how you can help from afar:
GoFundMe is currently promoting 25 verified fundraisers for those affected by the shooting — most of which are for children’s families and for funeral expenses. In one of the first fundraisers that was set up, Xavier Lopez’s family asks for both monetary aid and prayers for “him and all the parents coping this tragedy and loss.”Los Verdes, a group of soccer fans and Austin FC supporters, is asking for $250,000 for all the families affected by the shooting. VictimsFirst (a network of families of the deceased and survivors from over two decades of previous mass shootings) has raised over $5 million to directly help the victims’ families.
March For Our Lives is organizing a series of marches in D.C. and around the country on June 11th. Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida started March for Our Lives after experiencing their own mass shooting on February 14th, 2018. Since then, these students have worked to demand lawmakers to take action and reform gun laws across the country.
Here’s how you can help locally:
South Texas Blood and Tissue is a South Texas-based organization that supplies blood components to more than 100 hospitals. It also supports tissue and umbilical cord blood/birth tissue donations. In the wake of the Uvalde shooting, they sent 25 units of blood to the site of the shooting and local hospitals. They continue to accept donations and urge people to donate blood wherever they can to prepare for tragedies like this one.
University Health, a national teaching hospital in San Antonio is also asking for blood donations.
SALSA, The San Antonio Legal Services Association, is calling for local attorney volunteers to assist shooting victims and their families with unmet legal needs. They have set up a calendar where volunteers can sign up to provide counsel during different clinics.
