1. The Jonestown Memorial Fund was established in November 2010 to collect contributions in order to erect a monument to those who died in Guyana on November 18, 1978.
2. The Jonestown Memorial Fund worked closely with Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland, California to design a monument that would not damage the fragile hillside where 409 bodies are buried. The monument – consisting of four panels listing the names of all 918 people who died in Guyana that day – was also designed in keeping with the memorial stone placed on the gravesite in 1979 by the Guyana Emergency Relief Committee.
3. The names include the 909 people who died in Jonestown, the five people who died at the Port Kaituma airstrip – including Rep. Leo Ryan and three newsmen – and four people who died in Georgetown, Guyana’s capital city.
4. The stones were quarried in China and arrived in the United States in March. Each stone measures 40” x 64” x 4”, weighs approximately 1126 pounds, and lists about 230 names. Amador Memorial Company of Oakland, California engraved the names into the stones.
5. The 120 contributors to the fund represent a wide spectrum of people, ranging from former members of Peoples Temple, survivors of Jonestown, members of the Concerned Relatives, family members of those who died, religious studies scholars, and others who want to memorialize those who died. An alphabetical listing of the contributors is included on the program for the dedication of the monument.
6. The Jonestown Memorial Fund raised over $20,000 in a campaign that lasted less than three months. The three members of the fundraising committee – John Cobb, Jim Jones Jr., and Fielding M. McGehee III – volunteered their time and were not remunerated in any way. Expenditures included the monument stones, a single direct-mail solicitation, reimbursement for travel and other out-of-pocket expenses, and the dedication service.
7. Contributors to the Jonestown Memorial Fund believe that all who died on November 18, 1978, are in need of mercy, love, and compassion. That is why the monument lists the names of everyone, without reservation or discrimination.