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Interviews with news makers and discussion of topics important to Southwest Michigan. Subscribe to the podcast through Apple itunes and Google. Segments of interview are heard in WestSouthwest Brief during Morning Edition and All Things Considered

WSW: The Help Now Fund

WMUK

As people in Southwest Michigan learned details on Sunday of a Saturday night shooting spree in Kalamazoo, philanthropic organizations were searching for a way to help.

Battle Creek Community Foundation CEO Brenda Hunt, Kalamazoo Community Foundation CEO Carrie Pickett-Erway and the CEO of the United Way of the Battle Creek and KalamazooRegion Mike Larson worked on the Help Now Fund.

Carrie Pickett-Erway and Mike Larson joined WMUK’s Gordon Evans to discuss the development of the fund and plans for the donations.

Pickett-Erway says people making donations can designate their contribution to help families of the shooting victims or for other purposes. Larson says they plan to be “good stewards” of the money. He says they will be transparent in how the donations are spent.

The short-term needs may also include counseling and other services for people dealing with traumatic events.

Pickett-Erway says the longer term goal is to address the broader problem of violence. She says that includes an effort to create a “safer community.”

Larson says the problem of violence is bigger than one incident. He says the community needs to have a larger conversation about violence as a whole.

Gordon Evans became WMUK's Content Director in 2019 after more than 20 years as an anchor, host and reporter. A 1990 graduate of Michigan State, he began work at WMUK in 1996.
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