Vampirefreaks.com raises money for Montreal hospital

A Montreal hospitalsays it will accept any money raised in a fundraising drive by Vampirefreaks.com, the goth website linked to the Dawson College shootings.

Vampirefreaks.com launched a campaign to support the Montreal Children's Hospital on Tuesday night in an attempt to clear the website's blemished reputation.

"We are raising money to donate to charity, to help people in need, and to show the world that goths are not the scary, evil criminals that some people make us out to be," says a message onthe web page set up for the fundraiser.

As of Thursday morning, the charity drive had collected $2,371. Donations have come in from Australia, England and the United States, from members with nicknames like "Drowning in Blood" and "Dolly Dead."

Donors have also postedmessages expressing regret about the Dawson College attack.

The hospital hesitated when it first learned of the fundraiser, but it will accept any money collected from vampirefreaks.com members, after consulting with family members of the victim killed in the shootings, Anastasia De Sousa.

"We contacted the De Sousa family, and they gave us full permission to accept these donations from this website," said Linda Christman, thehospital's associate executive director.

The only stipulation the family had was that part of the money raised be used to help troubled teenagers.

Kimveer Gill, who killed one teen andwounded 20 others in a shooting rampage atMontreal's Dawson College,maintained apage at Vampirefreaks.com.

On the website, Gill posted pictures of himself posing with guns and knives and kept an online diary in which he referred to himself as the "angel of death."

A 15-year-old teen arrested Sept. 18 near Hudson, west of Montreal, also used the site to post death threats aimed at his school.

In the days following the shootings, the webmaster was quick to distance the online community and goth culture in general from Gill's hateful messages.