A fundraising campaign set up to help a Berkeley elementary school teacher who was critically injured in Richmond on Saturday after being hit by a stray bullet, has so far raised more than $31,000 for her and her partner.

On Jan. 2, Berkeley resident Claire Dugan, a teacher at Cragmont Elementary School, was randomly shot while driving on Cutting Boulevard near 22nd Street a little after 6 p.m., according to Lt. Felix Tan of the Richmond Police Department. Dugan took a bullet in the face and neck, then both she and her partner Lori Dooner were injured in a subsequent collision.

Visit the GoFundMe campaign page for Claire Dugan and Lori Dooner.

The fundraising site explains that the couple, who have a teenage son, need help with medical bills and living expenses “while they recover and fight to overcome the horrific violence that was inflicted on them.”

“This fund has been set up to make sure finances don’t add further stress to the family,” write the organizers.

In just two days, the GoFundMe campaign, set up by friends Pat Tobin and Trisha Sullivan-Rothberg on behalf for Dugan and Dooner, has raised more than $31,000 from a total of 437 people. The campaign is more than half way to reaching its stated goal of $60,000. Some of those who have contributed are parents of children who Dugan teaches or has taught. Others are strangers who have been shocked to hear of the incident, including other teachers.

Writing in the site’s comments section, Dugan’s sister, Mavis Ronayne, thanks everyone for their help and says she will try to keep supporters updated with Dugan’s progress. “.. But it is going to be a long, slow journey so please bear with everyone while we make our way through this difficult time,” she writes.

Related:

Berkeley school teacher shot in the face in Richmond (01.05.16)

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