Some Chiefs rally shooting victims continue to wait for financial relief

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Friday marks four months since the Chiefs Rally shooting. However, some victims are still waiting for financial relief.

Organizers with United Way, which raised $1.8 million through the KC Strong Fund, say the wait is almost over as victims should be receiving money at the end of the month.

Jacob Gooch was shot in the foot at the rally. His wife and 13-year-old son were also shot.

“It’s pretty frustrating,” Gooch said.

Especially since Gooch hasn’t been able to go back to work.

“We’ve exhausted all of our credit cards,” Gooch said. “It’s rough not having any money, not doing anything; it’s just been rough.”

It’s why organizations like United Way and United KC created funds to the 23 victims whose lives changed forever.

Jeremiah Enna, a founding board member of United KC was a part of the Church Loves Kansas City fund, which raised nearly $185,000.

“To pay some hospital bills, in some cases their own bills because of what this caused in their personal lives,” Enna said.

Some of the money was used to pay for the funeral of Lisa Lopez Galvin. So far, almost $33,000 of it has gone to some of the victims.

“It was very much a personal, one-on-one thing,” Enna said. “It wasn’t just like throwing money at things.”

They are still working to distribute the money raised.

“I can see the bigger that you are, the more complicated it gets,” Enna said. “But I think that’s why The Church Loves Kansas City was formed, like ‘hey, this is our city, and we know people, we trust people, and we can be able for every dollar. But we want to get it to people.”

From the very beginning, United Way organizers made it clear that this is an extensive vetting process that will take time to ensure that everyone who needs it gets the necessary amount.

“They did tell us it should be in a few weeks. They gave us the date of the 27th. So, we’ll see what happens,” Gooch said.

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