A volunteer committee created to oversee the nearly $1.3 million donated to help victims of the Omaha mall shooting has approved a plan for distributing the money to the families.

“The plight of the victims and families brought us together in this compassionate community effort,” committee chairman John Ewing said Monday. “Their lives have been turned upside down, and they have only begun to heal.”

The panel already has given $240,000 to the families of the eight people slain on Dec. 5 in the Von Maur department store at Westroads Mall and to the four people who were wounded by 19-year-old Robert Hawkins, who also killed himself.

The spending plan calls for $280,000 for long-term care, nearly $263,000 for college scholarships, $233,000 for counseling, $150,000 for housing; and about $120,000 for medical bills, funerals, child care and other services.

Most of the money will be distributed to the families over the next couple weeks, but trust accounts will be created to help pay for long-term care and for college expenses of children of the victims.

United Way of the Midlands helped create and oversee the fund.

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On the Net:

Von Maur Victims’ Fund: http://www.vonmaurvictimsfund.org/