OneRepublic smash target to aid families of Connecticut school victims
Onerepublic have smashed their $50,000 fundraising target to help the families of those killed in the massacre at a Connecticut school on Friday (14Dec12), and have now increased their goal to $250,000.
The Apologize hitmakers were heartbroken to read that 20 kindergarten students and six staffmembers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown were killed by a gunman, identified as 20-year-old Adam Lanza, who allegedly turned the firearm on himself.
They launched a drive on fundraising website IndieGogo.com on
Saturday (15Dec12) to help provide for the victims' relatives, who
may be too grief-stricken to return to work, and they kickstarted
the initiative with a $20,000 donation.
Stars including Foster The People, Sara Bareilles and actress
Hayden Panettiere helped raise awareness of the fundraiser by
sending a link to their fans via Twitter.com - and OneRepublic's
goal has already been achieved.
As a result, the band, fronted by singer/songwriter Ryan Tedder,
has increased the target to $250,000.
A series of posts on the act's Twitter page reads, "We're gonna
have to raise the goal for the Sandy Hook shooting victim fund.
$50K raised in 24 hrs - I think we may bump to $250K. Guys our
initial goal was $50,000 in the next 30 days for the Sandy Hook
victims - u (sic) made it happen in 24 hrs (hours) - let's go
bigger. Help NewTown."