Notification has been made to the next of kin of a young man who was shot and killed last week while visiting a home on the city's southeast side.The Fort Wayne Newspapers Three Rivers Festival raised enough money to pay for its fireworks display.
Less than a week ago, officials announced they were about $2,000 short for the pyrotechnic finale to the July 11-19 festival. But thanks to contributions from the Downtown Improvement District, Parkview Hospital, the Fort Wayne TinCaps, Pyrotechnico and Indiana Michigan Power, the Three Rivers Festival reached its fundraising goal for its annual fireworks display, organizers announced Thursday.
The recession has complicated already-struggling finances for the festival.
In May, officials said cash sponsors had dropped by nearly a third from the previous year and in-kind sponsorships were also down, resulting in the festival being about $65,000 short in sponsorships.
In recent years, the Three Rivers Festival had racked up more than $100,000 in deficits, although losses dropped to less than $70,000 for the 2008 festival.
But organizers trumpeted the recent contributions for the fireworks show as a sign that the Fort Wayne community had rallied around the festival, a statement released Thursday evening said.
Sponsors had contributed more than $24,000 by the time officials made their plea for money last week, although the festival was still short. In an effort to spark additional contributions, the Downtown Improvement District sponsored a Web site link that would allow donors to give money online through a PayPal account.
