Advisory: Please note that this post is about the Pulse nightclub massacre on June 12, 2016. It contains sensitive and difficult to read content.
Alex Martins is the CEO of the Orlando Magic and served as chair of the board of directors for the One Orlando Fund.
On June 12, 2016, his phone started buzzing early in the morning. It was off season for the Magic so there was no reason for all the calls. On those early hours there was a lack of information combined with speculation. Was it a terrorist attack or a mass shooting? There were so many questions. As the news spread beyond Orlando there were notes and calls from family and others from around the country to check and be sure everyone was safe.
There was a vast amount of helicopter activity. As the morning wore on and information came out, the mayor held a press briefing and the significance of what had occurred became a reality. Besides shock, there was anger and concern. He stayed glued to the news coverage.
He reached out to Mayor Dyer to see how the Magic could help. Out of those conversations the request was born for him to chair the One Orlando Fund. On June 17, 2016 the fund to help the victims was announced. There were more questions than details but there was forward momentum to help.
The Magic made a significant donation to the one Orlando Fund. That is the one area where they could assist the most. He had to learn how these victims relief funds had been dealt with in other tragedies. Getting the counsel of Ken Feinberg who had experience in handling this before was one of the best decisions the Mayor made to get the One Orlando Fund on track.
There was representation from the largest downers as well as from the LGBT community and Hispanic community. Who would best be served by the funds? Would the funds be for the victims who were in the Pulse Nightclub or the business down the street that got shut down for weeks? Every board member had a voice. There was much debate. The board decided to disperse the funds only to the victims in several different categories based on injuries or death and the victim’s families of those who were killed.
The approval process had to be vetted. Proof had to be provided through the FBI and the local authorities that the victims were at the Pulse nightclub that night. These types of tragedies also bring out the worst in people. There have been fraudulent activities in victim compensation funds in other cities. the burden of proof had to be there.
Funds were distributed according to a tiered system based on the amount of impact that each applicant had from the tragedy. Families received the largest individual shares. Those in the hospital the longest were the next tier. Time in the hospital would be a proxy for how much would be dispersed.
People needed help. The first disbursement was within 30 days. After that disbursement, funds kept coming in. A second wave of checks went to victims. This tragedy brought our community together in a way that it had never com together before.
