Intersection

Local charities report they haven’t suffered during the post-shooting community groundswell

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One positive development to come from of the horrible October 1 shootings at the Route 91 Harvest festival was the outpouring of community involvement, from blood givers to care-package assemblers to those who donated money to drives like the $11 million-fat Las Vegas Victims’ Fund.

But in light of such participation, did Las Vegans subsequently abandon, overlook or pause contributions to other local charitable efforts? Depending on your organization, your mileage may vary—for some, like the regional chapter of the Sierra Club, data wasn’t available—but it likely remained status quo.

That was certainly the case for some nonprofit heavyweights. Opportunity Village opened its annual HallOVeen at the Magical Forest shortly after the shooting incident and, according to director of marketing Marty Wood, not only was able to attract the minimum 100 volunteers it takes to operate the nightly holiday attraction, but is so far drawing 40 percent more patrons (whose admission fees are essentially donations to Opportunity Village) than last year.

At HELP of Southern Nevada, president and CEO Fuilala Riley says her organization also has experienced no decrease in either volunteering or donations, adding that it actually “received an uptick in supporters asking if we needed anything in light of the situation.” The Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals also has seen no change in participation, says operations manager Brenda Brian. “We have people who donate to us all the time. And most of our volunteers have been coming in for years.”

Any reported contribution dips have been brief. Three Square director of operations Maurice Johnson said that despite a drop on October 2, community participation across the resource spectrum actually went up 10 to 15 percent, and included his organization’s own role in providing food for blood donors, UMC and the Family Assistance Center. Meanwhile, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Nevada saw a drop, but only for a few weeks. “I think the community’s focus was elsewhere for a while,” CEO Molly Latham says. “However, that has returned, and things are back on track.” Which is likely where everyone else in Las Vegas would like to be.

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