Community Corner

Seal Beach Victims' Fund Raised $400,000

In less than three months, roughly $400,000 was raised for the loved ones of the eight people killed in the Salon Meritage Shooting.

The donation period for the Seal Beach Victims’ Fund closed Tuesday after having raised roughly $400,000 for the people who lost their loved ones in the Salon Meritage shooting.

Already the families of the eight people killed in the October massacre have received about $150,000 in donations, and the fund’s board will meet soon to arrange the final disbursement of more than $230,000, said Seth Eaker, fund trustee and communications liaison.

Immediately following the tragedy, an outpouring of donations and offers to help came in from far and wide, said Eaker.

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“It’s a testament to the community,” he said. “It has been incredible.”

A golf tournament and silent auction at the Old Ranch Golf Club helped to raise about $61,000. Marie Pope, of West Comm, the region’s police and fire dispatch center, helped to raise more than $18,000 with t-shirt sales, and Seal Beach’s Affliction Clothing also contributed via t-shirts honoring the victims and the Seal Beach community.

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“It is due to the tremendous support of community leaders and volunteers like Lynn Alfieri of Netwin Solutions, Howard Peck & Rick Hodgins of Phillips Steel, Mike Martin, the golf pro at Old Ranch Country Club, and Gina Phillips of the Seal Beach

Chamber of Commerce, that fundraisers have been as successful as they have been. All of

these volunteers and dozens of others have selflessly given to make a difference,” Eaker added in a written statement.

The Seal Beach Victims' Fund Trust was established with the City of Seal Beach, the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce and Watson & Associates, which owns the shopping center that house the salon. The fund was established within 48 hours of the Oct. 12 shooting and played a key role in harnessing the community outpouring of support in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. It also gave donors a legitimate and centralized fund guaranteed to be spread out among the victims’ families.

The fund has been so effective in connecting donors to victims that Southern California Edison modeled its fundraising efforts after the Seal Beach Victims’ Fund following the company’s workplace shooting that left two dead in Irwindale last month.

Eight people were killed in the salon shooting, including salon co-owner Randy Lee Fannin, 62; Victoria Ann Buzzo, 54; Lucia Bernice Kondas, 65; Laura Lee Elody, 46; Christy Lynn Wilson, 47; hairstylist Michelle Marie Fournier, 48; Michele Daschbach Fast, 47; and David Caouette, 64. Another woman who was shot -- 73-year-old Hattie Stretz -- survived.


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