The United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region, Battle Creek Community Foundation and Kalamazoo Community Foundation are amazed and grateful for the heart-felt community support of the Help Now! Fund. It’s our privilege to provide you with this update on how these gifts are making a difference.

More than $218,000 has been donated to the Help Now! Fund: 

▪    Special financial needs of the victims and their families. More than $117,000 has been disbursed as of May 1.

▪    Community counseling, healing and safety services that address the aftermath of violence. The team has begun working with agencies that have and continue to reach out to the community to address long term solutions to community violence. So far, more than $8,000 has been granted for this purpose.

▪    Citizen safety planning and violence preparedness efforts. The Help Now! Fund partner organizations recently met with the mayors, city managers and public safety chiefs of Kalamazoo and Battle Creek to begin planning strategies for long-term impact.

We and the Battle Creek Community Foundation and the Kalamazoo Community Foundation are firmly committed to honoring the intent of each donor’s gift, whether for a specific family, all of the families, or for immediate and long-term work to promote safety and reduce violence. There is a robust process in place to ensure integrity, transparency and equity to all who are healing from this tragedy.