The organizers of a GoFundMe campaign to support James Van Der Beek’s family have offered an update.
“Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for showing up for James and his beautiful family,” read an update shared by “Friends of the Van Der Beek Family” on Friday, February 13. “Your kindness has meant more than we can put into words. In the middle of deep grief, your support has been a light. It reminds us that love is real, that community is strong, and that James’s spirit continues to bring people together.”
Van Der Beek died on Wednesday, February 11, at the age of 48, following a stage III battle with colorectal cancer.
“Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith and grace,” a social media statement read. “There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time. Those days will come. For now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother and friend.”
GoFundMe for James Van Der Beek’s Family Raises More Than $2 Million
James is survived by his wife of nearly 16 years, Kimberly Van Der Beek, and their six children. A group of friends subsequently launched a GoFundMe campaign to cover James’ medical bills and to allow his family to “stay in their home.”
“Right now, the family is taking time to mourn and be with one another,” Friday’s update added. “We kindly ask members of the media and the public to give them space and privacy as they walk through this painful season. Your respect and understanding will give them the room they need to heal.”
The statement further asked supporters to keep Kimberly, 44, and James’ loved ones “in your thoughts and prayers.”
“Thank you for honoring his life with compassion, generosity and love,” the statement concluded.
The fundraiser has since raised over $2 million in support of Kimberly and the kids, including a $25,000 donation from Steven Spielberg and his wife, Kate Capshaw. Spielberg was notably Dawson Leery’s favorite filmmaker on Dawson’s Creek. (James starred as the titular teen, an aspiring filmmaker, on Dawson’s Creek from 1998 to 2003.)
James Van Der Beek’s Friend Details His Family’s ‘Urgent Need’ for Money
“Dawson’s bedroom was sort of a temple to Spielberg, and so I had to write a letter to him because he retains the rights to all that stuff,” show creator Kevin Williamson told Entertainment Weekly in 2018. “I was like, ‘Please, Mr. Spielberg, you don’t know me, but I was this kid. I had this bedroom. I had all your posters in my bedroom. Can I please present Dawson the way that he really was?’ It was really interesting, he wrote back and he wrote the loveliest response.”
Williamson, 60, explained that Spielberg agreed to the request, so long as Dawson’s Creek didn’t mention Spielberg’s wife and children.
“‘Just keep it to me, and you can do whatever you want,’” Williamson recalled of the letter. “I was like, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.’”
James starred on Dawson’s Creek alongside Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, Michelle Williams and Busy Phillipps, all of whom attended a live pilot reading in 2025 meant to support James’ cancer battle. Spielberg, for his part, sent a special video message.
“Dawson, you made it,” Spielberg said in prerecorded footage from the New York City event. “Maybe someday, I will get to have a Dawson’s closet.”
James was unable to attend the reunion due to a stomach bug.
