The #TorontoStrong Fund is giving the first $500,000 it raised since the Yonge St. van rampage to victims of the attack and their families.

As for the remaining $2 million collected, how it gets distributed is still to be determined.

On the afternoon of Monday, April 23, a white van mounted sidewalks on Yonge St. between Finch and Sheppard Aves. and hit pedestrians, killing 10 and injuring 16. Alek Minassian is charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and 13 counts of attempted murder.

Read more:

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Moved by the tragedy, members of the public gave generously to the #TorontoStrong Fund.

The initial payout from the fund will go toward funeral expenses, travel and accommodation, among other costs, said Julia Howell, vice-president of community engagement at the Toronto Foundation, the organization behind the fund.

That includes:

Up to $15,000 for each of the 10 funerals, which can also be used for repatriation of victims’ remains

Up to $10,000 for travel and accommodation for each family

Up to $200 a week for food, parking and taxis for family members travelling to Toronto from out of town

$500 for clothing

$200 for cellphone costs for international families

One of the families declined the money.

A steering committee will decide how to divide up the rest of the money next week, Howell said.

“You’re not going to take millions of dollars and give them to families. There’d be no way to really responsibly steward that kind of money,” she said.

The committee has not yet met and more money may go to the victims, she added. The group includes a representative from the mayor’s office, the United Way of Greater Toronto, the City of Toronto, the Wellesley Institute, Manulife and the Canadian Women’s Foundation.

Money for victims is the first part of a three-part strategy, Howell said.

“We have looked at other cities around the world that have dealt with similar kinds of crises and they tend to be multi-tiered responses, because they recognize that the impact is significant on the city.”

The second part of the plan, she said, is to look at the impact on the surrounding community and “in what way can those funds support that healing.”

The third, Howell said, is “getting heads around the table to think thoughtfully about how these funds can make a difference … and how can these funds help people better understand the implications of a crime like this.

“Is it possible for us to actually think really big picture and think about prevention? To what extent does our system of support for those with mental illnesses factor into a response? What about misogyny?”

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Sandra Train, a lawyer representing one of the victim’s families, said all the money should go to the victims’ families.

“When you’re fundraising for them, you expect that you’re going to be funding that poor grandmother or that poor university student,” she said. “You’re not expecting it’s funding some flower bed in memory of.”

“The #TorontoStrong Fund was created to ensure generous donations from individuals, corporate citizens and community organizations motivated to help after the terrible tragedy on Yonge St. reach those who need it most,” Mayor John Tory said in a news release. “We will work with our partners to ensure this fund is distributed in a thoughtful, impactful and accountable manner and thank all those who continue to support our city through these donations.”

A large number of GoFundMe campaigns were started after the incident. Some of them will be directed to #TorontoStrong when their campaigns close. Some were established to support the families of specific victims, including Anne Marie D’Amico and Renuka Amarasinghe, who both died, and Amir Kiumarsi and Amaresh Tesfamariam, who were injured.

Liah Tesfamariam, niece of Amaresh, who remains hospitalized, said it has been expensive for her family to stay by her elderly aunt’s side, but “it’s pennies on the dollar compared to the value that we get out of being here for Amaresh.”

The community’s generosity is “overwhelming,” Liah said, who added she wants the fund to “do right by the donors” and the needs of other victims to be met.

“They need it. Everybody needs it.”

Kiumarsi, a distinguished scientist and chemistry lecturer at Ryerson University, was seriously injured in the van rampage. Had he been a tenure-track professor, he would be eligible for up to 66 days of sick leave at full salary, according to a copy of the Ryerson Faculty Association’s collective agreement posted online. But, as a contract lecturer, he is only entitled to what’s provided under Ontario law: 10 days emergency leave, two of them paid.

An email obtained by the Star circulated Friday by the Ryerson Faculty Association urges contributions to a GoFundMe page set up by Kiumarsi’s union, CUPE 3904.

So far it has raised more than $35,000. The Ryerson Faculty Association has donated $1,000.

Toronto resident Russell Scott said he made a $9 donation to the #TorontoStrong fund through the LCBO in the past week. While it may be a small amount, he wants assurance that his contribution will go directly to the injured and grieving families.

“I’m on a limited budget, but I thought it was a worthwhile cause,” he said.

Historically, donations after a tragedy go almost entirely to the families of victims, often spearheaded by an administrative team and released in increments.

After the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, $29.5 million (U.S.) was raised and split among 299 families and survivors. On average, families of the 49 killed received $350,000 each from the OneOrlando Fund. The 68 survivors received between $35,000 to $300,000 each.

Another 182 clubgoers who were there when the June 12 shootings started, but who escaped physical injury, received about $25,000 each.

The We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, created in response to the Manchester Arena bombing, raised more than £11 million, £4 million of which was divided between the families worst affected by the attack.

Initially, £1 million was shared between bereaved families of victims who were in hospital for more than seven days. Then a further £3 million was released for families of patients in hospital for more than a week.