After consulting with groups in other communities afflicted by mass killings, officials in Newtown, Conn., have formed a new nonprofit organization to oversee distribution of more than $9-million contributed to aid victims of December’s Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, writes the Hartford Courant.

The Newtown-Sandy Hook Community Foundation will handle gifts channeled into a bank account opened by the United Way of Western Connecticut, which did not want to be involved in disbursement, said Newtown Selectman Will Rodgers, who led efforts to create the new group.

Five local leaders, including a pastor, a former Newtown city finance director, and a mental-health expert, will head up the organization. Mr. Rodgers said the transition team that developed the foundation heeded advice from similar groups in Aurora, Colo., Oklahoma City, and other massacre sites to ensure community representation and public input on spending donated money.