On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times called a $100,000 fundraising effort for the victims of the massacre in San Bernardino, “the most successful crowd-funding venture Muslim Americans have ever launched for the broader community.”
The effort, titled the Muslims United for San Bernardino, was launched by a local Muslim doctor, Faisal Qazi.
Qazi says he did not know the killers were Muslim when he began the effort, the Times reports. However, the fund was launched on Dec. 3, and it was clear by the end of the day on Dec. 2 that the terrorists, Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik, were Muslim.
The effort, which has been adopted by Muslim organizations, has tapped 1,000 donors across the country, according to the Times. As of Wednesday morning, it is nearing $120,000. San Bernardino County and the United way will distribute the funds to victims for funeral expenses and sundry other needs.
Pew Research quoted a 2011 survey of Muslim Americans that reported there were 1.8 million Muslim adults in the United States.
Shakeel Syed, the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California’s executive director, said donors hope to raise $250,000.
After the Haiti earthquake in 2010, the roughly four million adult Jews in the United States gave over $14 million to Jewish organizations to aid the ravaged country; Muslim organizations raised $2.5 million.
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