The Boston Marathon bombings have inspired more than $29 million in donations, while fundraising for the much deadlier West, Texas, fertilizer plant explosion has not yet cracked $500,000.
Sharon Jackson, the owner of Divine Designs flower shop in West, Texas, got a note recently from a store in Boston that read, "From one flower shop to another." After her small town was rocked by an explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. plant that killed 15 people and injured more than 160, the note brought a welcome smile.
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The florist who sent the letter resides in a city where more than $29 million has been raised for the victims of the terrorist bombings of the Boston Marathon. Jackson and the town of West, which have been relying mainly on the support of the tight-knit local community, along with state and federal disaster relief, has seen about $500,000 raised for the victims of the explosion.
With West's population just short of 3,000, Boston's much larger population — over 625,000 citizens — is one reason to attribute the difference in donations. However, many donations are coming from crowdfunding initiatives by individuals located in neither city.
GiveForward is one such organization where a fundraiser can be started and donations can be made online directly through the site. In an interview with CNN Money, Ethan Austin, co-founder and president of GiveForward, expressed his thoughts on the difference between fundraising in Boston and West.
"The explosion in Texas was an accident. The reaction was sadness. The bombings in Boston were a heinous and malicious act that brought back memories of 9/11. The reaction was anger," he said. "Stories inspiring high energy emotions like anger have a much higher likelihood of going viral. Stories inspiring low-energy emotions like sadness do not tend to go viral," Austin told CNN Money.
Regardless, shop owner Jackson said, "We're just happy to get the support we have got," displaying a good-natured optimism that several West residents expressed in interviews with MSN News.
'WE'VE BEEN OVERSHADOWED'
Others, however, weren't as positive.
"We've been overshadowed," said Ashley Allison, executive director of the Waco Foundation, which has been raising money for the West community. "I would never want to take any attention away from Boston, but people should know there is a real need to rebuild a community here. There are lives that need to be rebuilt in Boston, but there is a whole community that needs to be rebuilt in West."
James E. Hawdon, a sociology professor at Virginia Tech University, believes the enormous disparity in charitable giving between Boston and West comes down to one factor: The "victimization" effect.
"Because Boston was an act of violence, it was defined — really, by all Americans — as an attack on Boston, an attack on the whole United States," Hawdon told MSN News. "In Texas, it was viewed as an accident. So we feel empathy for that, but not necessarily solidarity."
Hawdon, who studies the effects of tragedies on communities, such as the 2007 mass shooting at his workplace of Virginia Tech, said deadly events in which the carnage caused is intentional — such as in Boston — can cause the tragedy to "go viral."
In the case of the Texas plant explosion, while the company involved reportedly didn't tell federal regulators about its store of highly volatile chemicals that exploded, the victims did not die at the hands of a plot targeting innocent people. The five-day manhunt for the Boston bombers didn't help direct attention toward Texas, either, Hawdon said.
As it stands, the nation-wide One Fund Boston charity, started by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino, has raised more than $27.3 million. That amount is in addition to crowdfunding efforts that have brought in an additional $2 million in general funds and for individual victims. According to recent estimates, hospital bills for the Boston bombing victims will total about $9 million.
In West, meanwhile, the Waco Foundation said it has raised about $250,000 in charity. The Waco Salvation Army's total stands at about $200,000 as of its most recent count. Various other charities at the local and national levels have brought in a few thousand dollars here and there, but with a 50-unit apartment complex demolished, a nursing home damaged and 75 other houses either destroyed or damaged, the cost to rebuild in West will be enormous. Mark Hannah, spokesman for the Insurance Council of Texas, told MSN News that the damage caused by the plant explosion probably will exceed $100 million.
How to help:
West, Texas explosion victims:
www.wacofoundation.org
Boston Marathon bombing victims:
www.onefundboston.org
