NEW YORK: A journalism scholarship fund set up by the family of Jessica Ghawi, one of the 12 people killed in the Aurora, Colo., theater shooting during a screening of “Dark Knight Rises,” has reached its goal of $20,000–a day after a campaign seeking donations was launched.
The Jessica Redfield Sports Journalism Scholarship Fund “will be seed money for the scholarship to help send another upcoming young sports talent to study journalism,” according to a website for the campaign. “Help us creates futures from such a tragedy.” The campaign has received more than $24,000 in donations from more than 200 contributors so far.
Ghawi, an aspiring sportscaster and native Texan, moved to Colorado a year ago to pursue a career in sports journalism. The 24-year-old hockey blogger, who wrote under the name Jessica Redfield, was one of the first victims publicly identified in the massacre. She was present during last month’s shooting at a Toronto mall—and blogged about the experience.
“She wanted to be on the media,” Jessica’s brother Jordan Ghawi told CNN. “She wanted to be doing these reports—and she is, just not in the way she would have liked it. So it is … really hard.”Jessica will be cremated in Colorado and flown to Texas, Jordan said, where a memorial service is planned in San Antonio.
[Related: Jessica Ghawi’s brother skips court hearing: ‘I was afraid that I may try to get my hands on that man’]Nearly $2 million has been raised by a network of nonprofits that are helping those injured in the shooting.
While Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures are among the contributors, most who gave have asked to remain anonymous, according to Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper’s office.DNA
