How to help victims of Pittsburgh synagogue shooting

PITTSBURGH — Eleven people were killed and six others, including four law enforcement officers, were wounded during a shooting Saturday morning at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood, authorities said.

Squirrel Hill business owners tried to spread joy Monday when they bought 150 bouquets of flowers and passed them out to strangers, a gesture met with smiles, hugs and tears.

The Federal Order of Police has set up a fund at the Pittsburgh Police Credit Union to help the officers who were injured in the synagogue shooting. It's called the Injured Officers' Fund.

The fund was established in order to provide a safe place for people to donate to the officers and ensure they were not getting scammed.

Here's the location of the Pittsburgh Police Credit Union:

1338 Chartiers Ave
Pittsburgh, PA  15220

In addition, the Fraternal Order of Police is selling shirts as a fundraiser to help the injured officers fund. You can find more information here.

According to Pittsburgh Public Safety Twitter:

Family Assistance Center: The FBI Victims Services is working with the American Red Cross, JCC, Salvation Army, and Allegheny County Human Services to assist victims at the JCC, 5738 Forbes Avenue.

The center is open Mon.-Thurs. 9am-8pm; Fri.-Sat. 9am-6pm.

Officials are asking for people to step forward to give blood.

O-positive, O-negative and platelet donations are needed most, but existing and first-time donors with all blood types are welcomed, according to Vitalant, formerly Central Blood Bank.

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Officials also recommend making an appointment throughout the week.

People who are as young as 16 (with parental consent), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in general good health may be eligible to donate blood, according to Vitalant.

American Red Cross will also be holding a blood drive inside the William Pitt Building at the University of Pittsburgh on Friday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Appointments are required at www.redcrossblood.org. Use the code PITT.

A GoFundMe account was started for the victims on Saturday, October 28.

According the page, "All funds raised will directly go to the Tree of Life Congregation from GoFundMe, and there is no third party intermediary."

To contribute, go to: https://www.gofundme.com/tree-of-life-synagogue-shooting

To contribute, go to the GoFundMe page.

A family assistance center will be open at the Jewish Community Center on Forbes Avenue to support the needs of people who were attending the services at the synagogue Saturday morning and their families through the coming weeks.

The Red Cross Disaster Mental Health Teams have been actively assisting those impacted by the shooting.

Their mental health, spiritual teams and client caseworkers will be available to meet with anyone who was attending services inside the synagogue when the shooting happened and their families if requested.

The American Red Cross has also planned a blood drive for Friday, Nov. 2 from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the William Pitt Union on Pitt's campus in Oakland. Anyone who wants to donate should make an appointment at www.redcrossblood.org. Use the code PITT.

Leaders at the Jewish Federation told Channel 11 they're astonished by the donations that have poured in unsolicited.

"It's flowing in like we’ve never seen before," said President and CEO Jeff Finkelstein.

More than 3500 people have given to the fund for victims of terror and along with corporate donations, almost $1 million has been raised this week.

That's allowed the Jewish Federation to pay for costs associated with the funerals and now release $2,000 to each victim’s family, including police officers, to pay for expenses.

Now through Wednesday, Nov. 7, Giant Eagle will be collecting donations at all locations for the United Way Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh's Our Victims of Terror Fund.

Customers will be asked by cashiers if they would like to make a donation of $1, $2, $5, or any other amount when they are checking out.

Bishop David Zubik has asked every parish to take up a special collection on the weekend of Nov. 10 to 11th.

“This collection is a gift of love and solidarity from one religious community to another, to say that the Catholic people of Southwestern Pennsylvania suffer with you and we are here to support you,” Bishop Zubik said. “The congregations at Tree of Life are free to use these donations in whatever way they believe is right, to help their members recover and to restore their house of worship.”

Donations will be taken up at second collections at the vigil masses on Saturday, Nov. 10 and at Sunday Masses on Nov. 11.

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