After only two months, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford has decided to close the GoFundMe campaign started on her behalf and donate the remaining money to organizations that support sexual assault survivors.
Sponsored by her friends and colleagues, the campaign was started back in September after Dr. Ford and her family started receiving death threats, hate mail, and more, forcing them to leave their home. While the original goal was to raise $150,000 so that Dr. Ford could hire a security team to protect her, they ended up raising more than $647,000.
But now that things have settled down (well, a bit), Dr. Ford is ready to pay it forward. In a message to her supporters, she wrote,
“The funds you have sent through GoFundMe have been a godsend. Your donations have allowed us to take reasonable steps to protect ourselves against frightening threats, including physical protection and security for me and my family, and to enhance the security for our home. We used your generous contributions to pay for a security service, which began on September 19 and has recently begun to taper off; a home security system; housing and security costs incurred in Washington DC, and local housing for part of the time we have been displaced.”
She then wrote,
“With immense gratitude, I am closing this account to further contributions. All funds unused after completion of security expenditures will be donated to organizations that support trauma survivors. I am currently researching organizations where the funds can best be used. We will use this space to let you know when that process is complete.”
Dr. Ford’s bravery in her decision to stand up to then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has inspired us all. And although she has said she believes it was her “civic duty” to speak out, I’m not convinced that everyone (myself included) would be able to do what she did.
While Dr. Ford has certainly received her share of hate, she has also been on the receiving end of a lot of love and support. She wrote,
“I am in awe of the many women and men who have written me to share similar life experiences and now have bravely shared their experience with friends and family, many for the first time. I send you my heartfelt love and support.”
Thank you, Dr. Ford, from the bottom of my heart for your bravery and your continued leadership as a sexual assault survivor.
