The Gabriel Zimmerman Scholarship Fund has just surpassed its goal of $50,000, making the fund eligible for endowment at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Zimmerman's alma mater.

It took just more than two months for the fund to receive enough donations for endowment, but fund co-creator Jonathan Klein says his work is far from over.

"We've got to keep it going," says Klein, a San Francisco attorney and UC Santa Cruz alum.

An aide to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Zimmerman was shot and killed in the Jan. 8 Tucson shootings.

The Gabriel Zimmerman Scholarship Fund's mission of helping those in need is "so consistent with what he valued and with what his family valued," says Ross Zimmerman, Gabriel Zimmerman's father. "UC Santa Cruz had a huge effect on him."

After the fund reached endowment, Klein received a congratulatory email from Ross Zimmerman and a card from Gabriel Zimmerman's mother, Klein says.

"It means the world to me," he says.

While the scholarship fund has achieved its monetary goal, its ultimate goal of impacting young students for years to come is a proper tribute to a man who gave his life doing what he loved, Klein says.

"We want to make sure it lasts," he says. "We want to make sure there's a lasting legacy."

Meanwhile, the Gabriel Zimmerman Memorial Fund continues to slowly climb. The fund has raised $35,000 in donations, up from $33,000 two weeks ago, says Colleen Bagnall, development director of Child and Family Resources in Tucson, the organization that started the fund.

To contribute to these funds, contact the following:

To donate to the Gabriel Zimmerman Scholarship Fund, contact Joop Rubens at (831) 502-7275, or e-mail jrubens@ucsc.edu.

To donate to the Gabriel Zimmerman Memorial Fund, contact Bagnall, of Child and Family Resources, at 321-3778 or e-mail donationsforgabe@cfraz.org.