A Jewish organization in the American city of Pittsburgh has raised almost $1 million for the victims of the Christchurch mosque shootings, Radio New Zealand reported.
“Our intention really was to try to show love back to our Muslim community in Pittsburgh who after the shooting here raised money and did so much to show their support of us,” the city’s Jewish Federation president Jeff Finkelstein said.
“We never expected to become this really big national initiative,” he added.
The Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill in Pittsburgh is still recovering from October 2018 deadly shooting which left eleven people killed and a number of others injured.
Following the attacks, CelebrateMercy, a Muslim nonprofit which spreads the message about Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), raised nearly $240,000 in days for Jewish victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting.
Jewish Federation chief development officer Brian Eglash said it started the fund because of the Muslim community’s support after the attack on the synagogue.
Tri Live reported the NZ$966,972 raised from The New Zealand Islamophobic Attack Fund included $NZ89,259 donated by the Tree of Life congregation.
“There were over 4500 unique donors, over US$660,000 (NZ$981,000) and the donations came from all 50 states,” Finkelstein said.
“And at least 10 countries around the world,” he added.
The donations will be sent to the New Zealand Jewish Council which will transfer the money to the Christchurch Foundation.
About 74,000 donors flocked to one Givalittle page alone, raising more than $5.8 million for the victims and families of Friday’s terror attacks in which 50 Muslim worshippers were killed inside Christchurch mosques.
The page, started by the non-profit Victim Support group, was overwhelmed by financial support from ordinary Kiwis who set a new Givealittle record by raising $3.5m within the first 24 hours.
The fundraiser is separate from the LaunchGood fundraising page managed by the NZ Islamic Information Centre which had also collected more than $2m, News TalkZB reported.
Muslims Show Solidarity with Jews after Deadly Pittsburgh Shooting