3 YEARS AFTER: Campaign for Aurora theater shooting memorial fund continues uphill climb

AURORA | English Lavender, Mexican Feather Grass and Dwarf Blue Rabbitbrush are just some of the plants that thrive in the Aurora Municipal Center Xeriscape demonstration garden, which spans 10 acres near East Alameda Parkway and South Chambers Road. But something is missing, say city staff and council members.

As the Aurora theater trial wraps up in Arapahoe County, city officials and volunteers are still fundraising to create a memorial garden that would be dedicated to victims.

Officials say it will be a place for survivors, those who lost loved ones and other people to sit and reflect about what happened that night almost three years ago.

The 7/20 Memorial Fund — which is made up of family of victims, survivors and others directly impacted by the shootings — has raised more than $16,000 for just such a memorial. That’s according to Aurora’s interim deputy city manager Jason Batchelor. The city started officially soliciting donations for the memorial last December.

But the city needs $50,000 total to commission a sculpture and provide amenities such as benches and pathways for the memorial garden, said Aurora City Councilwoman Barb Cleland, a member of the 7/20 Memorial Committee. The memorial is part of the planned expansion of the city’s current xeriscape garden.

Since late May, the city has received an immense amount of help from Gene Roncone, lead Pastor at Aurora’s Highpoint Church who also hosts a weekly podcast called “Love Aurora.” In June Roncone dedicated one of his podcasts to raising money for the memorial where he interviewed Cleland as well as Megan Sullivan, whose brother, Alex, was one of 12 killed in the theater that night.

As part of the podcast, Roncone set up a textcast service for the city that provides people with an easy way to receive donation information. Roncone’s system allows people to text “LA” to 74574 to get a link to the city-hosted donation website.

Roncone also incorporated the message of giving into his sermons to raise funds for the memorial.

“I collaborated with two other writers to create a Bible study that would be used in all our small groups meeting through the city two weeks before we took a special offering for the memorial,” he said. “The Bible study introduced the need and the Biblical reasoning why communities of faith should be involved in helping to be a voice of hope and helping to our city.”

To date, Roncone said the Highpoint Church has raised $9,200 from members for the memorial.

Aurora Mayor Steve Hogan said the city waited a few years after the theater shooting to raise funds because families impacted by the event needed time to grieve.

“You’ve got the additional problem that people are focused on the trial rather than a memorial,” he said. “It’s difficult, but we will continue to do what we need to do for as long as we need to do it until we reach the goal.”

Hogan said when complete, the memorial garden would be the first of its kind in the city.

The final design hasn’t been finished so a timeline for construction has not been released. Cleland said there is also no deadline for when the money needs to be raised by.

To donate, visit https://npo.justgive.org/720memorial.

MORE WAYS TO DONATE

Formed by parents and other surviving family members of those killed in tragedies such as the Aurora theater and Newton shootings, the National Compassion Fund gives 100 percent of donations to victims directly without a charity as an intermediary.

The organization emerged out of an alarming trend where nonprofits were collecting donations for survivors of mass murders and withholding funds from victims. In 2012, families of Aurora shooting victims said the Community First Foundation had been slow to provide financial help to the families or even release details about $5 million that had been donated for their benefit.

The fund was first proposed by victims and families from past mass casualty crimes across the country, including 9/11, Columbine, and Virginia Tech, who also experienced stressful and prolonged negotiations attempting to collect money donated in their names.

Tara Ballesteros, a spokeswoman for the National Center for Victims of Crime, said the National Compassion Fund is still actively taking donations for Aurora theater victims, and has raised over $20,000 for victims since the group formed. The National Compassion Fund is overseen by the nonprofit National Center for Victims of Crime.

“The Fund will stay open through the remainder of the trial,” Ballesteros said. She said with the potential for more organized fundraisers to benefit the National Compassion fund later this summer and into the fall, the money would not likely be distributed to victims and their families until later this year.

To donate, visit https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/aurora-trial.