"Suspicious" Fires Destroy Three Historically Black Churches In Louisiana
Source: NBC News
Source: NBC News
The donation will be divided up equally between the three black churches.
Following the fire that took place at the Notre Dame Cathedral, three historically black churches in Louisiana that were recently burned has seen a surge in donations and exceeded their campaign goal.
READ: Son Of Law Enforcement Official Arrested In Connection With Fires At Three Black Churches
On April 15, the cathedral caught fire, the damage affecting parts of the historic Paris church. Since then, France's three wealthiest families — LVMH Group, Kering and L'Oreal — have pledged a combined $565 million to help rebuild the cathedral according to CNN.
With the support the cathedral has received, activists, journalists, politicians, and other public figures took to social media to also encourage support of the three churches that were destroyed by arson in Louisiana.
"It is imperative that we show this community and the entire country that these types of acts do not represent who we are," retired NFL player Benjamin Watson tweeted.
A GoFundMe for the three churches — the St. Mary Baptist Church in the community of Port Barre, and Greater Union Baptist Church and Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Opelousas, all in Louisiana's St. Landry Parish — has been active since April 10. The fundraiser initially sought to raise $600,000 for the churches but the amount was raised to $1.8 million after reassessing the damage.
The GoFundMe has since raised over $1.9 million, with a little over 35,000 people donating in the last seven days. As the fundraiser notes, "100% of all funds raised will be evenly distributed to the three churches affected."
In related news, Holden Matthews, the suspect of the church burnings is now facing hate crime charges on top of the arson charges he received after being arrested last Thursday.
