GoFundMe raises more than $1.8 million for black St. Landry churches burned in arsons

Ashley White
The Daily Advertiser
A screenshot taken at 10:45 a.m. of the GoFundMe page for the St. Landry churches destroyed by arson.

The world's focus this week on the fire of the famed Notre Dame cathedral in France has prompted greater awareness for public support of the three St. Landry Parish churches lost in recent weeks to fire.

As of Wednesday night, donors have surpassed the goal of $1.8 million raised for the three St. Landry Parish churches that were destroyed by arson, and the amount continues to grow. 

The GoFundMe page was created on April 10, just six days after the last fire, by the Seventh District Baptist Association. Donations trickled in. As of Tuesday morning, a screenshot shows the account had about $92,000 in donations. 

About four hours after the screenshot was posted, Notre Dame started to burn and media reports swarmed coverage of the fire. Millions of dollars were pledged to help rebuild the 850-year-old structure, and some estimates Wednesday show as much as $1 billion pledged so far to rebuild the church. 

But prominent figures — former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, broadcaster Soledad O'Brien, journalist Yashar Ali — tweeted to remind everyone about the devastation of the St. Landry church fires that have impacted three historically black congregations, urging people not to forget the campaign to rebuild St. Mary Baptist Church, Greater Union Baptist Church and Mount Pleasant Baptist Church.

"As we hold Paris in our thoughts today, let’s also send some love to our neighbors in Louisiana," Clinton tweeted. 

Ali tweeted, "The rebuild of Notre Dame will be well funded." Then he posted the link to the GoFundMe. It was retweeted more than 27,000 times. He's been updating the progress of donations.

At about 9 a.m. Wednesday, he said about $878,000 had been raised in the less than 24 hours since he first tweeted the link.

Former New Orleans Saints player Ben Watson tweeted the link Saturday asking for others to support the churches. 

Nealry 28,000 people donated to the campaign as of Wednesday afternoon. Most of the contributions have been modest — $5, $15, $20. A few have been large donations of $1,000 or more. The goal is $1.8 million. It was one of the top three fundraisers on the GoFundMe homepage. 

In addition to the GoFundMe, the Community Foundation of Acadiana Wednesday established the St. Landry Parish Foundation to accept tax-deductible donations that will go toward supporting the churches. The foundation was initially established through donations from the William C. Schumacher Family Foundation, LHC Group and the Myers Family Foundation, a release said.

“I have every belief that our community will rise in support of these churches and their congregations,” Dr. William “Kip” C. Schumacher of the William C. Schumacher Family Foundation said in a release. “The loss of these churches is devastating, but we will come together as a family and help these churches rebuild. Those impacted by these losses deserve our compassion and our support.”

Donations can be made online at stlandrychurchfires.org or by check made payable to Community Foundation of Acadiana, memo: St. Landry Church Fires Fund, and mailed to 1035 Camellia Blvd., Suite 100, Lafayette, LA 70508. 

The three churches were destroyed in a 10-day period. St. Mary, which is in Port Barre, was the first church that burned in a fire early in the morning on March 26. Greater Union in Opelousas burned down a week later. On April 4, a fire destroyed Mount Pleasant on Highway 182 south of Opelousas.

Holden Matthews, the 21-year-old son of a St. Landry Parish Sheriff's deputy, was arrested in connection with the fires, which investigators said were intentionally set and are connected. He has been charged with arson and hate crimes. He is being held in jail after he was denied bond Monday. Prosecutors argued he was a flight risk and offered evidence that he captured video on his phone of burning the churches. 

Contact Ashley White at adwhite@theadvertiser.com or on Twitter @AshleyyDi

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