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Disney, Darden, Orlando Magic Among Donors to New City Fund for Shooting Victims, Others

A new fundraising effort by the city of Orlando for victims of the terror attack on Pulse nightclub near downtown has already attracted big-name donors like Walt Disney Co. and JetBlue Airways. The city created the new OneOrlando Fund, which will support not only the victims of the mass shooting on June 12 and their families, but also the LGBT community, the Hispanic community and other affected communities, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer announced on June 14. The fund also will support “underlying causes of this tragic event and other needs we cannot anticipate until we face them,” the release said.

Published 8 years ago | About a 1 minute read

A new fundraising effort by the city of Orlando for victims of the terror attack on Pulse nightclub near downtown has already attracted big-name donors like Walt Disney Co. and JetBlue Airways.

The city created the new OneOrlando Fund, which will support not only the victims of the mass shooting on June 12 and their families, but also the LGBT community, the Hispanic community and other affected communities, Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer announced on June 14.

The fund also will support “underlying causes of this tragic event and other needs we cannot anticipate until we face them,” the release said.

The fund already has garnered the following support:

• $1 million from Disney, which also is offering a dollar-for-dollar match from eligible donations by its employees through the Disney Employee Matching Gifts program
• $500,000 from Orlando-based Darden Restaurants (NYSE: DRI)
• $100,000 from the Orlando Magic
• $100,000 from JetBlue Airways Corp. (Nasdaq: JBLU)
• $50,000 from Orlando-based Mears Transportation Group Inc.

“We are heartbroken by this tragedy and hope our commitment will help those in the community affected by this senseless act,” Bob Chapek, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said in a separate prepared statement. “With 74,000 cast members who call Orlando home, we mourn the loss of the victims and offer our condolences to their families, friends and loved ones.”

The OneOrlando Fund is a project of the nonprofit Strengthen Orlando Inc., and distribution of funds will be administered by the Central Florida Foundation, which is involved with efforts for more than 400 charitable funds, the release said.

For more information or to donate, visit OneOrlando.org.