Gray Area, Leading Ghost Ship Fire-Relief Fundraiser, Hasn't Distributed a Dime
This past December 2, local nonprofit Gray Area Foundation for the Arts held an eight-hour team meeting to plot its coming year. After the meeting, some staffers had planned to attend an electronic-music event, at a warehouse in Oakland. While wrangling friends to carpool to the artist colony and underground venue, however, Gray Area education program manager Chelley Sherman got a text: "Don't come. There's a fire."
After that message, Sherman laid awake all night — worried not least for her friend Chelsea Faith Dolan, who was scheduled to perform at the show as Cherushii. She swapped texts and messages with Gray Area founder and director Josette Melchor.
"We felt desperate to do something, but really helpless," Melchor said of those hours after the fire.
The idea to start a fundraiser emerged around dawn, Melchor and Sherman recalled, and it launched online that morning with an initial goal of $10,000. Sherman was the original donor. "At first, I thought people were going to be saved and that there'd be medical expenses," Melchor said. "And then it was more around funeral expenses."
Read more: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/gray-area-leading-ghost-ship-fire-relief-fundraiser-hasnt-distributed-a-dime/Content?oid=5091281
