Nonprofits, Community Members Offer Support After Tulsa Mass Shooting

Tulsans and nonprofit organizations are showing support after four people were murdered Wednesday in the Natalie Building on the Saint Francis campus.

The John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation announced it will host a gathering Friday night at 6:00 at its downtown park to mourn the victims.

Dr. Preston Phillips was a board member with the center and was well known in the Greenwood District.

Tulsa Crime Stoppers Executive Director Karen Gilbert is encouraging Tulsans to wear pink on Friday to show support for the victims' families and employees.

Saint Francis is offering counseling services to help employees process what happened. A volunteer also brought therapy dogs to the campus Thursday, to help comfort employees.

A church service at the hospital drew more than 200 people to the chapel at Saint Francis, along with countless people watching online.

"Even as we face the grief that will come, we can ourselves again and again return to the promise of the Lord. In the world we will experience trouble, but that we should not fear because he has overcome the world,” Diocese of Tulsa Bishop David Konderla said during the service.

Neighbors on 36th Street between Harvard and Yale are tying pink and blue ribbons to street signs and utility poles throughout the neighborhood.

Tulsa Area United Way has a space on its website for anyone in the community to leave a note for St. Francis employees to read. Those notes will be printed out and hand delivered in waves as they pour in.

The nonprofit said during the pandemic, it did the same thing, and ended up delivering more than 6,000 notes to healthcare workers.

Saint Francis said it has been receiving a lot of calls from the community asking how they can help.

A donation fund is already set up with the Tulsa Community Foundation to help support victims' families and employees who were impacted. Click here for a link to the fund.

The hospital emphasized it is not asking for donations, but knows Tulsa is a generous community and wanted to provide one simple way for people to help.