Aurora shooting victim Rebecca Wingo's mother Shirley Wygal, cries after a press conference Thursday morning, Sept. 13 at The Summit Conference and Event Center. The group said the $5 million relief fund won’t be distributed until November and their relationship with officials overseeing the fund remains strained. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

AURORA | Money donated to victims of the Aurora theater shootings and their families won’t be distributed until November, several frustrated victims said Thursday.

Aurora shooting victim Rebecca Wingo’s mother Shirley Wygal, cries after a press conference Thursday morning, Sept. 13 at The Summit Conference and Event Center. The group said the $5 million relief fund won’t be distributed until November and their relationship with officials overseeing the fund remains strained. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)
Tom Teves, father of Aurora shooting victim Alex Teves, speaks to the media after a press conference, Thursday morning, Sept. 13 at The Summit Conference and Event Center. The group said the $5 million relief fund won’t be distributed until November and their relationship with officials overseeing the fund remains strained. (Marla R. Keown/Aurora Sentinel)

In a brief morning press conference at the Summit Event Center, a group of victims who have been critical of officials administering the more than $5 million relief fund said they were told last month that the fund would be doled out by mid-October.

Now, Tom Teves, whose son Alex was killed in the theater, said the 7/20 Recovery Committee won’t even decide how the money will be distributed until November.

“The 7/20 Committee has gone back on their word or at least what any reasonable person would recognize as their word,” Teves said. “Though it is not surprising since we are dealing with an army of bureaucrats and lawyers who parse words for a living.”

The committee, which will make a recommendation to the Community First Foundation, a nonprofit administering the fund, sent out a survey to victims and their families last week.

The survey, which officials asked be returned by tomorrow, asks if victims would like to see the money distributed evenly among the victims, or based on the particular needs of individual victims.

Teves said Community First could keep the interest accrued on the account and said someone else needs to be in charge of the fund, though he didn’t say who that should be.

A spokeswoman for Community First said the nonprofit does not keep the interest or take an administrative fee. She said any accrued interest will be given to victims.

In a statement after the press conference, Rich Audsley, a member of the 7/20 Committee, said the victims’ wishes are important to the group and there have been several meetings with the victims in recent weeks.

“The 7/20 Recovery Committee remains committed to a robust and inclusive process that honors the input of all victims, and not just the voices of a few,” he said.

There have been several different opinions about how the money should be spent, Audsley said, and the committee is listening to all of them.

“The real work in developing the distribution plan will occur when the victims are seated at the table as part of the committee,” he said.

Audsley also pointed out that besides the committee, victims have other resources, including a victim advocate assigned to each individual victim.