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The surviving members of the Humboldt Broncos, as well as the families of the deceased, will be receiving payment from the GoFundMe campaign that people all over the world contributed to after the tragic crash.
Created shortly after the tragic bus crash on April 6, the GoFundMe campaign raised $15.2 million, fueled by donations from all over the world.
The money could not be distributed due to legislation in Saskatchewan called the Informal Public Approvals Act, which outlines court-supervised payment.
The money will be distributed between the 13 survivors and the families of the 16 people who died in the crash. They will be receiving payments of $50,000 after a Saskatchewan judge approved the interim payments today. The court has approved a committee to determine how the rest of the GoFundMe money is distributed.
Lawyer Jeff Lee, who represents the Humboldt Broncos Memorial Fund Inc., said the cheques will go out "in a matter of days."
"Evidence reflects that there’s been financial hardship on some of the families," he told court.
The father of Evan Smith, one of the players who died, Scott Thomas, said that the money would help his family move forward by giving them the ability to proceed with scholarships and tournaments in Evan’s name.
"Evan was a pretty impactful young man and left his mark on a community in a number of different ways," Thomas said outside Saskatoon court Wednesday.
The committee is scheduled to draft a report over the next few months which will eventually be submitted to a judge for a ruling. The next court date is Nov. 15, 2018.
Thomas said that he’s too emotionally invested to say how the remaining funds should be distributed, and that no amount of money can bring back those who died.
Survivors. #ParklandStrong #HumboldtStrong #NHLAwards pic.twitter.com/VuW2AgAL1r
— Tammy Robert (@tammyrobert) June 20, 2018
"Whatever happens at the end, we’ve said right from the start that we’re going to consider it a gift and we’re going to be so thankful for anything that comes of this," Thomas said. "We’re going to trust in the process and there’s going to be good people in there that make good decisions. And whatever finds its way to us, we’re going to be more than thankful for it."
-With files from The Canadian Press.
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