Real estate executive Micah Lacher kickstarted a fundraising effort that has collected $390,000 in commitments for victims and survivors of The Covenant School shooting in Nashville, Tennessee.
Lacher is friends with Chad Scruggs, whose daughter Hallie was among the six people who were killed during the shooting on March 27. Scruggs is a pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church where the school is located.
For Lacher, it was more than simply helping a friend who is hurting. He sought to raise money to help those affected by a tragedy. Lacher, a principal at Anchor Investments, launched the effort by offering $10,000 in a matching challenge. Lacher said he emailed all the firm’s investors and “we frankly got oversubscribed on that.”
Chad Tuck with KBC Advisors was among the first to step up to match with $10,000 when he saw Lacher’s LinkedIn post about the fundraising effort, and it grew from there. The funds are going to The Community Foundation in Nashville, a nonprofit that has been raising money to help the families of the victims and survivors with counseling and other needs.
Both shy away from taking credit for launching the campaign, instead pointing to the generosity within Nashville and the national real estate industry.
Local banks, real estate investors and brokers are among those who have donated, and Tuck said commitments have also come from around the country. Some have personal connections to Nashville or investments in the city, while others do not.
“It’s a good example of throwing a rock into the pond and the ripple expanding,” Tuck said.