Megan Dierker, the only surviving victim from a shooting in Fort Collins in October, is home and on the mend, with an outpouring of support from family and friends. In particular, a GoFundMe with the goal of raising $50,000 for her.
The GoFundMe, started by family friend Linda Buckley, raised $21,720, 347 people have donated and it has been shared over 1,000 times so far.
“I feel like there are a lot of students donating to the campaign, lots of people far away donating,” Buckley said.
Buckley has known Dierker since elementary school, and the families are close friends. Dierker is a twin and attends University of Colorado Boulder. She was visiting friends at Colorado State University, including Savannah McNealy, when the shooting occurred.
Buckley said she found out about the incident by turning on the TV, when the shooting location had been initially misidentified ast the District apartments, just off the CSU campus. Buckley’s son is a resident in the District.
“That’s how my day started, like a panicked mom,” Buckley said.
Buckley said later in the day, after it was reported Megan was involved, Buckley said she thought it impossible.
“I kept hoping or praying it wasn’t Megan,” Buckley said. “I reached out to Jennifer (Dierker) a few days later to ask what (I) could do for the family.”
Buckley said it was a week later that Jennifer said she would take Buckley up on the offer of a GoFundMe. Buckley researched different fundraisers, including through banks, but eventually decided on the GoFundMe. Buckley said because GoFundMe can be used through social media, the GoFundMe seemed like a good audience.
Dierker is at home now and improving every day, according to Buckley.
Buckley said the GoFundMe is amazing, the connections to Dierker are incredible and while it is such a bad thing to happen between two campuses, both schools have come together and are raising money, especially within the Greek system.
She reiterated how great the support from both Fort Collins and Boulder has been in the wake of the shooting.
“It think it’s hard to imagine a few steps off campus people have guns in their apartment,” Buckley said. “When you know somebody (involved in a shooting), it’s just a totally different feeling.”
Buckley said the GoFundMe started with quite a bang and has slowed down a little bit.
“Even if they can only donate five dollars, it really makes a difference,” Buckley said. “We really hope to reach our goal of $50,000.”
Collegian News Editor Rachel Telljohn can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @racheltelljohn.
