This week, we learned of some truly heartbreaking news from Blood Orange songwriter Dev Hynes, who "lost everything" — including his dog Cupid — in an apartment fire that also claimed music, hard drives and other items. A fundraiser was quickly set up, but despite the success of the money-making efforts, Hynes has requested that the campaign be shut down.
The GoFundMe campaign was launched by the mother of Hynes's girlfriend Samantha Urbani. Robin Urbani started the campaign just two days ago (December 17), but it has already raised $24,302 — that's almost five times its goal of $5,000.
Now, however, the campaign has ended at the singer's request. In a post on Tumblr, Hynes thanked fans for their outpouring of support, writing, "Samantha's mother Robin started that fundraiser which was so nice of her and I had no idea of what was going on, it's incredible. I'm so grateful to her, and to all of you. It's beautiful, touching and extremely warming in these winter nights. Every email, tweet and message means more than I could ever say. Thank you."
He added that he is lucky to have supportive friends and family, and a girlfriend whose house he can stay at.
Hynes admitted, however, that "the fundraiser makes me feel extremely uncomfortable." Although he needs the money, he would rather rebuild his life by playing shows.
Hynes continued by adding that he isn't sure what to do with the donations. He wrote, "I want to give all the money to charity, 3 charities to be precise which I will explain further at a future point, that's how I feel, i'm being spoken to by people who are close and understand my situation and are trying to advise me. As I probably am still in shock, and may not have a choice but to accept some of the money, and then think about charities, I don't know... I don't know where my head is at right now…"
Hynes encouraged anyone who donated to personally contact him and say how they would like the money used. Read the full post here.
In related news, Hynes had some harsh words for the Guardian, which published an op-ed on crowdfunding using his situation as an example. He wrote on Facebook, "This is disgusting. I'm so hurt. I want to go on the record and say i will never talk to the guardian ever again, i want nothing i ever make to be on their website, or in their magazine. Please pull the interview i did recently. I don't want it to come out."
The GoFundMe campaign was launched by the mother of Hynes's girlfriend Samantha Urbani. Robin Urbani started the campaign just two days ago (December 17), but it has already raised $24,302 — that's almost five times its goal of $5,000.
Now, however, the campaign has ended at the singer's request. In a post on Tumblr, Hynes thanked fans for their outpouring of support, writing, "Samantha's mother Robin started that fundraiser which was so nice of her and I had no idea of what was going on, it's incredible. I'm so grateful to her, and to all of you. It's beautiful, touching and extremely warming in these winter nights. Every email, tweet and message means more than I could ever say. Thank you."
He added that he is lucky to have supportive friends and family, and a girlfriend whose house he can stay at.
Hynes admitted, however, that "the fundraiser makes me feel extremely uncomfortable." Although he needs the money, he would rather rebuild his life by playing shows.
Hynes continued by adding that he isn't sure what to do with the donations. He wrote, "I want to give all the money to charity, 3 charities to be precise which I will explain further at a future point, that's how I feel, i'm being spoken to by people who are close and understand my situation and are trying to advise me. As I probably am still in shock, and may not have a choice but to accept some of the money, and then think about charities, I don't know... I don't know where my head is at right now…"
Hynes encouraged anyone who donated to personally contact him and say how they would like the money used. Read the full post here.
In related news, Hynes had some harsh words for the Guardian, which published an op-ed on crowdfunding using his situation as an example. He wrote on Facebook, "This is disgusting. I'm so hurt. I want to go on the record and say i will never talk to the guardian ever again, i want nothing i ever make to be on their website, or in their magazine. Please pull the interview i did recently. I don't want it to come out."
