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Donations for burned churches reach $1M mark, continue to climb

Posted at 6:15 AM, Apr 17, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-17 08:25:15-04

Donations for three St. Landry Parish churches have come in from around the world. As of Wednesday morning, donations had reached over the $1 million mark and are still continuing to climb. A goal of $1.8 million is set for the fundraiser.

It is also the top trending fundraiser on the website.

To make a donation, click here.

Describing the reaction as overwhelming is an understatement. Generosity from across the country, and perhaps the world, will help ensure the future of the three churches that were destroyed. The renewed interest came after another church tragedy… Thousands of miles away.

“I didn’t expect it but I believe God and I’m trusting him for it. That’s what we did. We just stepped out on faith and we prayed and God has moved. We see it. It’s evident” said Freddie Jack.

Rev. Freddie Jack is the president of the Seventh District Missionary Baptist Association, and he says he never imagined the go fund me account would grow the way it did.

“There is a whole lot of love being shown and money filtering in and we are just thankful to God,” Jack said.

While the church arsons have made national headlines this month, they were moved back into the spotlight, because of the tragic fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

“It wasn’t gaining traction, and to me, black churches burning is a big deal. It is a sign of an era I would like to see far behind us, and it’s clearly not,” Megan Romer said.

A tweet by Lafayette’s Megan Romer encouraged followers to consider donating to the churches in St. Landry Parish In 24 hours, she had thousands of retweets.

“It’s a big deal. These churches have people who were enslaved buried in the back of their churches. It’s a really big deal. It’s tough history to tweet and tough history to talk about,” Romer said.

“I feel great about it. I’m just amazed at how freely people are contributing out of the goodness of their hearts, and how they are trying to make things easier for these pastors that have been affected and their congregations,” Jack said.


Other ways to donate:

Those wishing to make a donation can also do so via the Giles Gives Back campaign. Giles Automotive will be matching donations dollar for dollar up to $50,000 for their 30-day campaign. Donations can be made at any IBERIABANK location.

To read more on that campaign, click here.