Humboldt Strong : Show Your Support- All GoFundMe donations to go directly to affected players, families; Details HERE

Fifteen people were killed and another 14 injured when a bus carrying the hockey team collided with a semi-truck an intersection on Highway 35 near Tisdale.

Just a few hours later, a Humboldt resident set up the GoFundMe page to raise money for victims and their families. Within just 24 hours, the campaign had raised more than $1 million.

By Monday evening, more than $6.5 million had been raised to help with travel expenses, funeral costs and other costs the team allocates the money for.

“The response and support for these families has just been incredible,” spokesperson Rachel Hollis said in an emailed statement.

“This is the largest GoFundMe to date in Canada and now one of the top 10 largest campaigns globally.”

Sylvie Kellington, who created the campaign, said that despite not being related to any of the players, she wanted to find a way to give back to the team that had given so much to their community.

“They are such an integral part of our community. They go to our daughter’s school and work with the kids there,” Kellington told CKNW. “I work at a hair salon in town and they’re always in our shop getting their hair done.

“They’re all over in the community being helpful.”

Broncos president Kevin Garinger said the amount of money raised so far was “staggering,” adding the money will be used to support the needs of victims and those who have survived.

“We want to make sure we do the right thing to support our families,” he said.

Hollis explained that because of a change in the fundraising platform’s pricing structure in December, “A donor’s entire donation will go to the beneficiary of the campaign.”

In the past, a platform fee of five per cent was added to each campaign as a way to manage costs associated with the site, Hollis said.

In light of that fee, GoFundMe has introduced “voluntary tipping” to offset technology, safety and customer service costs. Donors can choose to tip in a drop-down menu, which defaults to 10/15 per cent, but people can switch it to 0 per cent.

Hollis said the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund was the largest GoFundMe to date, raising more than $21 million. Following that campaign, the Las Vegas Victims Fund raised $11.8 million.

Hollis said the 2.9 per cent and 30-cents-per-donation fees remain in place as they’re standard third-party payment processing fees that allow for credit card processing and safe money transfers.