Trayvon Martin

Trayvon Martin case

Trayvon Martin’s mother got 8 months of donated vacation time

 

Miami-Dade County colleagues of Trayvon Martin’s mother Sybrina Fulton generously donated several months of their vacation time.

frobles@MiamiHerald.com

The donations for Fulton added up to 1,362 hours — a total of 34 paid weeks off. Trayvon’s aunt collected nearly nine weeks.

County records show Fulton, who earns $68,768 a year, used funeral leave, four weeks of accumulated sick leave and 60 hours of vacation after her son was killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. She took two days of furlough in compliance with her county contract.

Last week’s pay period was the first that tapped into the bank of donated time.

Fulton is expected to appear before the commission on Tuesday to thank the county for its support.

Records show the donors included deputy mayor Jack Osterholt, who gave her eight hours, and Stan Hills, the former head of the fire union.

By far the most generous contributor was county clerk’s office employee Eric Cherelus, who gave Trayvon’s mother and aunt each an entire week of his vacation time.

Tracy Martin is a truck driver, and it’s unclear whether he has been on paid or unpaid leave. He and Fulton were in England this week speaking at the University of London and were unavailable for comment.

“Don’t forget there are two people who need to be taken care of here,” Hall said. “A lot of the media focuses on Sybrina and forgets that Trayvon had a father, who lived here and co-parented.”

Hall is the unpaid interim executive director of the foundation. He expects to employ both parents and Trayvon’s older brother Jahvaris Fulton, who is working as an intern on the foundation’s social media strategy.

“Anytime some tragedy happens in society, you don’t know what impact it will have,” said Marlon Hill, the attorney who helped set up the foundation. “The whole intention of this foundation was to speak to the broader issues. We are using it as an opportunity to do something positive.”

Trayvon’s family are not the only ones raising money.

Zimmerman, the man who shot their son, raised $204,000 in just three weeks with a PayPal account posted to a website. He spent about $50,000 before his defense lawyer learned of the fund’s swelling balance, his attorney, Mark O’Mara, acknowledged.

O’Mara recently created a new fundraising site administered by a former IRS agent and registered with the Florida Division of Consumer Services. He told ABC News that he raised nearly $8,000 in the first few days the site was active.

“I’m not going to be unrealistic to the fact that everyone is seeking donations in relation to this case, including the Trayvon Martin family,” O’Mara said at a recent news conference. “It seems as though we have become in this criminal justice system a system where we can ask other people to help us. That’s what we are doing.”

The fund now also includes the $150,000 balance transferred from the original PayPal account Zimmerman had set up.

In a statement on his website, O’Mara said Zimmerman spent $7,000 on PayPal fees, $5,000 on bond, and $1,000 at the jail commissary and for phone cards. He also paid off existing debts and set up a secure living quarters while he awaits trial, the statement said, without offering dollar figures.

“Roughly a third of the balance remains liquid and in Mr. Zimmerman’s possession for living expenses for the next few months,” O’Mara said. “So far, none of the funds have been applied to legal expenses.”

Read more Trayvon Martin stories from the Miami Herald

Miami Herald

Join the
Discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere on the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

The Miami Herald uses Facebook's commenting system. You need to log in with a Facebook account in order to comment. If you have questions about commenting with your Facebook account, click here.

Have a news tip? You can send it anonymously. Click here to send us your tip - or - consider joining the Public Insight Network and become a source for The Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald.

Hide Comments

This affects comments on all stories.

Cancel OK

  • Videos

  • Quick Job Search

Enter Keyword(s) Enter City Select a State Select a Category