This LGBTQ-Owned Auto Garage Raised Nearly $750,000 for Club Q Victims in Just 3 Days

An LGBTQ-owned auto store’s crowdfunding campaign to raise funeral and medical costs for those injured in the Q Club shooting last weekend has raised nearly $750,000 in just three days – an incredible feat considering the campaign launched just three days ago and initially only asked for $25,000.

Faith Haug – co-owner of Good Judy Garage auto shop in Sheridan, Colorado – said she couldn’t find anywhere to donate to support the victims of the shooting. So she started a fundraiser herself, which makes sense considering that a “Good Judy” is slang for a helpful queer person. Haug runs the company together with his partner CC.

“As a gay-owned business, the LGBTQA+ community has embraced us and allowed us to be here to serve them,” GoFundMe states. “It is our duty to help the community that has supported us.”

Even though the garage has less than 4,000 social media followers, its fundraiser quickly went viral. As of this writing, the campaign has already received over 18,700 donations totaling $737,391 (and counting).

A donor named Sonya Murphy wrote: “It could have been my child, his girlfriend, their friends, my co-worker’s son… Thanks for organizing, my heart breaks for everyone involved and for all of you. the LGBTQIA+ community,” Business Intern reported.

Haug told the publication that while $737,000 sounds like “an astronomical amount of money…it really isn’t,” especially since funerals and medical bills can cost up to six digits. When you multiply that by five dead victims and 25 injured, the aid fund could quickly dry up.

The garage has retained the services of an attorney and will establish a trust fund to distribute the funds directly to the victims. The trust will be managed by a local lawyer who is a member of the LGBTQ community, Haug says, and housed in a bank recognized by the Human Rights Campaign.

Haug also said the lawyer is working out how to most effectively distribute the funds so they don’t prevent victims from receiving additional help or low-income benefits. They expect the process to take about two weeks before they can start issuing payments.

The fund will remain open indefinitely.