More than six week from the tragedy that killed 16 members of the Humboldt Broncos and left 13 others injured, the Broncos continue to work through processes to ensure the money raised from the GoFundMe page will end up in the rightful hands of the families affected by the April 6 accident.
“Our focus remains as it has from the very beginning on supporting our families impacted by the tragedy of April 6. The Humboldt Broncos Memorial Fund Inc. is a non-profit corporation we have created to oversee the allocation of funds that were contributed via GoFundMe,” Broncos president Kevin Garinger said at a May 17 press conference.
While the process remains ongoing, Garinger noted working through the process is more intensive in Saskatchewan due to an Informal Appeals Act, which was passed through legislature in 2015.
“The act sets out a process that we will use to administer and allocate the funds for their intended purpose. We’ve started this process and we’ve taken the first steps,” noted Garinger.
With the Broncos working through the early steps of the process, Garinger noted the club has appointed a supervising judge from the Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench, which will be used to aid with any appeals that might come in as well as approving an advisory committee to make recommendations regarding the allocation of funds.
Garinger noted the processes usually take approximately three months to complete, a timeline Garinger says the club expects to reach.
“One of the mandates of our board is to get this done as quickly as possible… because we want this off our hands and back into the place where it should be and where it was initially set up to go and that’s to the 29 families.”
One of the next steps in the process is to approve a committee, who will be used to make recommendations on how best to allocate the funds.
The committee will be comprised of 3-7 reputable residents of both Saskatchewan and Canada, Garinger said.
“There are a number of names that have come forward and are in the process of short listing and establishing the committee.”
Garinger noted once the committee is set up they will recommend how best to allocate the money, with the recommendations then sent through a court process.
Of course, the amount raised from the GoFundMe page finished at nearly $15.175 million, but Garinger noted after fees were deducted by GoFundMe, the club has approximately $14.7 million left to allocate.
“One hundred per cent of that total as well as any interest gained through the funds that are going to be held in trust will go toward the 29 families who have been impacted by this unthinkable tragedy.”
While six weeks may seem like a long time for many, Scott Thomas, the father of the late Evan Thomas, noted his family has not even thought about the GoFundMe money, noting they have had other things to attend to.
“I picked my son up from the funeral home yesterday, my cremated son, and we divided his ashes up in 10 little urns so his friends and family could have some pieces of him…
This is the stuff that our families are dealing with right now,” he said.
“We’re patient, we’re secure and we’re confident and we support the Broncos and everything that they’re doing.”
Thomas noted the Broncos have worked hard for the families right from day one, and says he knows the Broncos will do what is right with the money.
“They’ve indicated right from the start that this is a monumental task, this is almost unprecedented in the world, let alone in Saskatchewan and this has been thrown at their feet,” he said.
“We’ve known right from the beginning that they would do everything that they can to make sure that we’re all treated fairly and consistently through this and so far they’ve been good that way.”
As for how best to distribute the money, Thomas says he can see the argument for just splitting it 29 different ways, but says there’s no way it can be that easy.
“It just can’t be because there’s two boys laying in hospital beds right now with brain injuries that maybe need a little bit more money, two paralyzed boys that maybe need a little bit more money, Darcy Haugan’s boys that maybe need a little more money, boys that walked through that carnage that maybe have PTSD for the rest of their lives, maybe they need a little more money.”
Thomas noted he understands the process, and says no matter what happens he will be happy.
“If someone from the Broncos comes to me and says, Scott, we’re going to take a little piece of what we allocated for Evan and your family and we’re going to give it to these guys, I would guarantee my son would be standing here saying, you take care of those boys. Make sure they’re taken care of,” he said.
“Whatever happens, whatever they come to us with, it’s going to be a gift and we’re going to be thankful for it... however long that process takes is irrelevant really.”
Trademark concerns
While both the Broncos and the league work to help those affected by the tragedy, a trademark fight emerged between the pair after the league trademarked #HumboldtStrong without notifying the team.
That issue was quickly resolved, with Garinger noting the league’s board of governors voted unanimously to ensure the trademark will belong to the Broncos and not the league.
“We’re just working through the final stages of the process to ensure that it falls in the rightful hands of the Humboldt Broncos and our whole Humboldt community and so many ways, which I know extends far beyond Humboldt,” noted Garinger
“To reference the reason why… this trademark, Humboldt Strong, is something that relates directly to what we want to do to ensure that we can honor the legacy of our Humboldt Broncos family. And those who have lost their lives and those who continue to have their lives changed because of this tragedy.”
