Sandy Hook: Follow the Money – Nearly $100 Million Collected!!

Insane Media

This article is the fourth in a series examining the reported donations that have been made to Newtown/Sandy Hook charities in the wake of the events of 12/14/12.

Now that the dust has settled a bit, it’s time to take another look at the donation totals for Sandy Hook. There are several articles that have been published over the past 15 months with varying degrees of relevance. Some of them gleaned information from CT Attorney General George Jepson’s survey, but at the time of publication, not all respondents had filed their reports. This includes my previous article, Follow the Money Part 3. At the time of that writing, it was impossible to arrive at an accurate total of the charities’ collections.

Since that time, there have been Federal grants made to Newtown, and one very large grant from the state of Connecticut, but we’ll get to that shortly. I would first like to cover the CT Attorney General survey, although out of date at this point, it seems a good place to begin.

By clicking through each report, the totals of money raised by spring of last year can be found. Of the 62 unique charities reporting, the whole dollar sum of all donations amounts to

$22, 277, 070.00

Twenty-two million, two-hundred seventy-seven thousand, seventy dollars.

As I mentioned, this total is inaccurate. It is less than what has actually been raised. How much less we can estimate based on later reporting.

In an article dated 12/14/13, NBC news stated that Sandy Hook Promise had raised 2.3 million dollars. That is $2,262,000.00 more that the $1,238,000.00 they reported in June of 2013 to the CT Attorney General. Let’s add that to our total: $22,277,070 + 2,262,000 =

$24,539, 070.00

Also mentioned in the NBC article was the Sandy Hook-Newtown Community Foundation as having raised “over 12 million”. That is one million+ more than reported originally. Let’s add again:

$25,539,070.00

Newtown Youth and Family Services originally reported 1 million raised, but by the end of the year they claimed 1.2 million.

$25, 739, 070.00

The NBC reporter included a few smaller charities that I did not find listed on the Jepson and Friends survey. I am attempting to get at the most accurate, conservative total. The 27 million claimed by NBC may well be close to the truth.

What the article in question did not cover were the Federal and State grants awarded to Newtown in the interim. Let’s take a look at those, shall we?

From the Department of Justice, Newtown received 2.5 million dollars, for officer overtime and what-not. “Grants will be awarded to the Connecticut State Police ($663,444), Town of Newtown ($602,293), Town of Monroe ($882,812), and other partner agencies ($296,836), which include 34 surrounding Connecticut jurisdictions.”

$28,239,070.00

The Department of Education provided two School Emergency Response to Violence, or SERV grants of 1.3 million in May of 2013, and 1.9 million in January of this year.

“We will do whatever we can to continue assisting and supporting the healing and recovery of Newtown,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said. “This additional grant will help students, teachers, families, school district and community move forward after such an unimaginable tragedy.”

$31,439,070.00

The State of Connecticut pledged to award Newtown an additional 50 million dollars to demolish Sandy Hook School, and build a new and improved one on the very same site.