Thanks to a massive donation from fellow Miami-Dade County employees, Trayvon Martin's mother will be able to take about 8 months of paid leave from her job.
The Miami Herald reports that Sybrina Fulton, a 23-year veteran of the county housing authority, received $40,825 worth of donated vacation time from a whopping 192 colleagues:
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...
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.
The donations to Fulton and Trayvon's aunt, water and sewer customer service rep Yolanda Knight Evans, were made possible by a resolution passed last month allowing county employees to donate up $50,000 in vacation time to any family member of Martin's employed by Miami-Dade County.
The resolution, sponsored by County Commissioners Bruno Barreiro, Barbara Jordan and Jose “Pepe” Diaz, stated it was created because "generous county employees have expressed a desire to contribute their earned holiday and annual leave" to both women.
Fulton had been on leave and in the national spotlight while advocating for the April 11 arrest of George Zimmerman, the self-appointed neighborhood watchman who shot her unarmed 17-year-old son in February in a gated neighborhood in Stanford.
She reportedly plans to continue to work for the Justice for Trayvon Martin Foundation, and Friday released a video plea on behalf of the Second Chance on Shoot First Campaign, an organization that seeks to change what it calls dangerous gun laws around the country -- including the vaguely worded 'Stand Your Ground' law under which Zimmerman claimed he acted in self-defense.