by Barbara Roden
The Village of Cache Creek has turned to crowdfunding platform blackpress4good.com in order to raise money to assist in the aftermath of Saturday’s disastrous flooding.
“Lots of people were working on different fundraising projects,” said Cache Creek Councillor Wyatt McMurray, “and we decided that it needed to be focussed and under one umbrella.” He and several others began researching various crowdfunding platforms, and Carmen Ranta suggested a B.C. platform, which is based in Vancouver. Blackpress4good.com crowdfunding is powered by Fundrazr, and promoted via local community newspapers.
A committee was formed at the Council meeting on May 25, and the fundraising initiative received the approval of council. “If it goes through the Village then people know it’s being properly collected and handled and dispersed,” said McMurray. “People want to give money and help,” he added. “This gives them one place to go to, where they know the money will be accounted for.”
The committee will set criteria as soon as possible, such as how to apply for some the money raised. The committee will also decide who the recipients will be. More than 100 residents have been displaced from their homes, some of which could not be saved, and many people have lost almost everything. Due to the nature of the event, most people have been told their losses are not covered by insurance.
“This is purely for Cache Creek residents who’ve been affected,” said McMurray. “It’s not to pay for lampposts or park benches. One hundred per cent of the donations received will go to people in Cache Creek. None of it will go to the Village.”
FundRazr, which helps people raise funds via online donations, started in 2012, and since that time has hosted more than 45,000 campaigns and raised more than $52 million in donations. Anyone who wants to donate to the Cache Creek relief fund can go to Blackpress4Good.com.
