OMAHA, Neb. -- The Von Maur Victims Fund committee on Monday announced its plan to disperse all of the money donated to families of victims.

Since the Dec. 5 shooting that killed eight victims and wounded four others, the fund has grown to more than $1.28 million.

On Monday morning, committee Chairman John Ewing said most of the money will be placed in trust funds for education scholarships for minor children and long-term health care needs of victims. The rest of the money will be paid in lump sums directly to families. Ewing said $280,000 will go to victims with long term health care needs and $263,000 for educational scholarships.

"What we didn't want to do was have families have to keep coming back to this fund every month or two, saying they had this expense or this bill, because we thought that would be impropriate considering the loss they suffered," Ewing said.

Money from the fund is also designated to be used for counseling, housing, professional services, short-term medical costs and child care.

The rest will be paid in equal lump sums to victims who qualify in the following categories:

• $233,000 for counseling.
• $150,000 for housing needs.
• $48,000 for professional services, such as estate planning.
• $41,000 for short-term medical costs.
• $16,000 for child care.
• $15,000 for funeral expenses.

Ewing said it has been a tough balancing act for the committee to try to get the money out as quickly as possible, yet respect grieving family members who may not yet know what their future needs are.

"The primary goal was to support the victims and their families during this difficult time," Ewing said.

Ewing said families will start receiving checks within the next couple of weeks. The committee's work is done.

Families said they appreciate the generosity, but it is hard to talk about money when you are grieving the loss of a close family member. Most said they just don't know what they may need in the future and hoped that their needs will be met.