With pay czar Ken Feinberg guiding use of the $5 million Aurora Victim Relief fund, members of the 7/20 Recovery Committee say they are eager to pick up other pieces left in the aftermath of the movie theater massacre.

“The work goes way beyond that” $5 million, said Steve Siegel, an executive member of the committee and director of program development in the Denver District Attorney’s Office.

“Our community has had a tragedy that has affected it far and wide,” Siegel said. “It affected the whole community’s sense of safety and its sense of pride.

Every member of that committee is looking forward to getting on with that work.”

That work includes everything from finding federal grants and other resources to help meet long-term medical and mental health needs to one subcommittee’s task to dry clean hundreds of Teddy bears left at the spontaneous memorial. They must be readied before storage with the Aurora History Museum.

“There are funds that exist for some of these other purposes — many streams of funds,” Siegel said.

The Aurora Victim Relief Fund consisted of private donations to the victims of the July 20 shooting at the Century Aurora 16 theater, including families of the 12 killed and the 58 or more wounded by the gunman. But there are also federal funds available for compensating victims of crime and assisting a community’s recovery from mass violence.

“We will pursue all possible funding mechanisms,” said Reid Hettich, a Methodist pastor of 27 years. “I know there’s a sense of frustration. There isn’t enough money to pay for everything that needs to be paid for, but we’ll look at everything.”

The 7/20 Recovery Committee is made up of representatives from nonprofits, government agencies, medical and other service providers, schools, businesses, churches and other sectors of the community at large.

The committee has worked hard to discern victims’ needs, Hettich said, but it has been a difficult process — with outreach hampered by confusion stemming from a court gag . The process also has been marked by strong criticism from some victims’ families.

” ‘What have I gotten myself into?’ Those exact words have fluttered through my mind and on my lips many times,” Hettich said. “But I’m honored to be there.”

Executive committee member Paul Suss, owner of a car dealership and Aurora businessman for more than 32 years, said: “There’s a reputation you must have that it’s a safe place to live, work and come spend money. We have to dispel any ideas that it’s not.

“A lot of people thought our only mission was to give out that money,” Suss said. “But we have the whole community to be concerned with. We have all kinds of victims with all kinds of needs — all the people of Aurora. We still have a lot of outreach to do.”

Electa Draper: 303-954-1276, edraper@denverpost.com or twitter.com/electadraper

Organizations represented by the 7/20 recovery committee include:

The Office of Governor John W. Hickenlooper

Aurora Chamber of Commerce

Aurora Mental Health

Aurora Public Schools

Cherry Creek Public Schools

City of Aurora

Colorado Department of Public Safety

Colorado Crisis Education and Response Network

Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance

Community First Foundation

Community Healing Group

The Denver Foundation

Aurora Key Community Response Team

University of Colorado and University Hospital