Press Release
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June 9, 2017
One Year After Pulse Massacre, Equality Florida Calls on Supporters to #HonorThemWithAction in GoFundMe Campaign
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IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
One Year After the Pulse Shooting, Equality Florida Calls on Supporters to #HonorThemWithAction in GoFundMe Campaign
After raising more than $9 million to help Pulse survivors and victimsâ families, Equality Florida continues to fundraise to fight bigotry and violence
ORLANDO, FL â In anticipation of the one-year mark of the massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Equality Florida calls on supporters across the globe to remember the 49 lives lost that night by donating to their #HonorThemWithAction GoFundMe.
After raising a record $7.8 million victimsâ fund on GoFundMe – and an additional $1.2 million offline – in the immediate aftermath of the horrific shooting, Equality Florida continues its mission of fighting homophobia and hatred at its root with its latest GoFundMe, #HonorThemWithAction. To support this cause, Titoâs Handmade Vodka will match contributions by donors who are 21 and older, up to $10,000. âWe are creating the future that wants to emerge: a world where love is the common language,â said Amy Lukken of Titoâs Handmade Vodka. âJoin our family at Titoâs Handmade Vodka in creating this world and honoring them.â For this moment of remembrance, GoFundMe has published an account of two Pulse survivors, Angel Colon and Angel Santiago. The story details how these two men have rebuilt their lives after this tragedy. GoFundMe has also published a first-person account by Equality Florida CEO Nadine Smith, describing the events of one year ago and calling on supporters to continue to take action. âOver 120,000 people from 120 countries donated more than $9 million to this campaign and we distributed every penny collectedâeven the interest earnedâto the survivors and families of victims of this tragedy,â said Nadine Smith. âA year later, we continue the fight to uproot the hatred that led to the pain of lives taken, injured, and traumatized. We have kept our promise: to confront hatred and violence at its root. But we canât do it alone.â
âI try to help show this world that we still have the love, hope, and strength to move forward. We must stay positive, and we must keep up the work,â said Angel Colon, a survivor of the shooting.
âItâs been a year, but itâs not over,â said Angel Santiago, also a survivor. âItâs up to all of us to use our voice to continue that fight.â Link to #HonorThemWithAction campaign: https://www.gofundme.com/forthe49 Link to Pulse survivorsâ story: https://medium.com/@gofundme/pulse-one-year-later-5a2f63b13e75 Link to Nadine Smithâs story: https://medium.com/@gofundme/were-in-this-together-we-need-each-other-11306cd13bde About GoFundMe Launched in 2010, GoFundMe is the worldâs largest social fundraising platform, with over $4 billion raised so far. With a community of more than 40 million donors, GoFundMe is changing the way the world gives. Find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. About Equality Florida Equality Florida consists of two organizations – Equality Florida Institute, Inc., our 501(c)(3) educational charity and Equality Florida Action, Inc., our 501(c)(4) advocacy organization. Together, these organizations form the largest civil rights organization dedicated to securing full equality for Floridaâs lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Through education, grassroots organizing, coalition building, and lobbying, we are changing Florida so that no one suffers harassment or discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.  |
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