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If you give money to help in tragedies, do you think to or remember to earmark that donation for a specific use?


Charleston Church Distributes $1.5 Million to Families of Victims
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSMAY 8, 2016

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Charleston church where nine African-Americans were shot in what the police say were racially motivated killings has given $1.5 million in donations to family members of the victims.

The Post and Courier of Charleston reported that Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church said it kept about $1.8 million in donations for building maintenance, an endowment and a scholarship fund.

The money was donated to the church in the months after the shootings last June. Church leaders say that only $280,000 worth of donations were specified for the victims’ families, but that the church decided to add more than $1 million to those gifts.

An additional $78,000 specified for the city of Charleston’s Hope Fund will be sent there to be distributed, said Wilbur Johnson, the church’s lawyer.

Some family members are upset that the church kept more than it gave to them.

“It’s just sad how the church continues to disrespect the families,” the Rev. Sharon Risher, whose 70-year-old mother, Ethel Lance, died in the shooting, told the newspaper.

The Post and Courier reported that victims’ family members and survivors received certified mail last week with checks and form letters from the church.

“This sum represents the distribution to you of a percentage of the total amount of funds, calculated upon the basis of the number of immediate family members of the Emanuel nine victims and survivors,” the form letter said.

The letters did not provide details about how much money the church received or how it decided to divide the donations.

“There was nothing personal about it at all,” Andy Savage, a lawyer who represents several victims’ families and Felicia Sanders and Polly Sheppard, two survivors, told the newspaper.

Mr. Johnson, the lawyer for the church, told The Post and Courier that the church used roughly the same formula the city used to disburse the Hope Fund but also included additional family members “in an effort to broaden the reach of the donations and in recognition of the church’s pastoral outreach.”

The Hope Fund formula divided 55 percent of donations equally among the nine victims’ beneficiaries, 25 percent among the five shooting survivors, 10 percent among children of those killed, 5 percent to education expenses and 5 percent to a special needs account, the newspaper said.

There have been two distributions from the Hope Fund — the first for $2.5 million and the second for $600,000 — and a third and smaller distribution is expected, the newspaper reported.

Nine people were shot and killed on the evening of June 17, 2015, during a prayer service at Emanuel. The victims included the church’s senior pastor, Clementa C. Pinckney, who was also a North Carolina state senator.

After the killings, thousands of contributions poured in from around the world, much of it going directly to the church. The city established the Hope Fund to help distribute contributions it received.

The Post and Courier said that originally, Emanuel officials planned to send the donations to the Hope Fund. But city lawyers declined to accept the donations because of a pending lawsuit and other questions raised about the church leadership’s handling of the donations.

A judge’s order had prevented Emanuel from disbursing donations until a few weeks ago when a lawsuit against the church — brought by the husband of Cynthia Graham Hurd, another victim — was dismissed. Arthur Hurd filed the lawsuit last fall seeking an accounting of the donations after lawyers for the families accused the church of not being transparent, The Post and Courier said.


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Regardless of where the greed is in this story (kind of hard to say), this surely demonstrates that "money is the root of all evil".

I'm not religious and probably not my place to judge, but the victims families here are not the only victims, the community as a whole was shaken to it's foundations by this event. In my opinion, the church putting half of the monies received to use for the betterment of the church and services it can provide is only fair.

The families suffered great loss and that is tragic, but fighting over the donations does not serve their loved ones memories. Sad.

I think the real quote is "The LOVE of money is the root of all evil." That's a bit different. There's nothing wrong with money.

quote above by ddub:

"I think the real quote is "The LOVE of money is the root of all evil." That's a bit different. There's nothing wrong with money."

Well, yeah, that's right. From a socio-economic point of view, money sure beats the barter system or the "I'm-stronger-and-meaner-than-you-now-I'm-taking-your-stuff-go-starve" system

Yep, and that form of "love" is a covetous form of love, or really, even a lust for money.

1 Timothy 6:9-10 says: 9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

You can want money with which to care for your family, support your church, and so forth .... but when you lust after money for money's sake, that's when you wander into sinful territory.

So if I read this correctly, 9 people were killed and several others injured. People made donations.

The families of the victims have split $1.5 million from the church, $2.5 million from the Hope Fund, $600K from the Hope Fund.. and they are complaining that they didn't get enough?

This may sound cold and callous but people are killed every day and usually the family gets NOTHING. These families have already received several hundred grand depending on how this was all split up...

I've been to that church, the church had traffic barriers in place, maintained a shrine out front that is still there, had to annex additional parking for visitors.. the church has had significant expenses in this.

Is everybody above board? Is the church keeping a little more than it should? Heck, I don't know. But it has had expenses and it is providing some for future benefits such as scholarships...

I guess I just see the irony in the whole thing. Through one act of violence people from all over the world are brought together, reaching into their pockets and sending what they can afford in an effort to say we're sorry and we care. This genuine act of kindness tears them apart, devolving the situation into finger pointing and accusations stemming from nothing but pure greed.

I don't pretend to know who should get what but when I think about the people who were donating that day, do you really think some guy thought, "did you see that paint peeling on the church, boy they could use a donation to get it painted". I have to believe it was the families of the murdered and injured that was on the minds of most people giving what they could.

It's probably best if people just kept their money in the future as it only brings heartaches.

You are right.. by the same token, that guy who was digging into his pocket, who wasn't thinking about the paint peeling off the church, was probably also not thinking, "You know what, those families have experienced tragedy, I should contribute $100 to a fund to make them all wealthy. I'm sure that would make them forget what happened."


The irony is that 9 people were killed and people felt really bad so what is there for them to do? Send money I guess.... yet those same people probably watch the evening news and see reports of people being killed in their own areas all the time and do nothing...

Is it just guilt? Is it distant remorse? What is it that moves somebody, upon hearing of a tragedy like this far away to say, "I'm going to send money".. even though they have no idea really where it's going or what it will be used for or who will ultimately end up getting it...

I suppose it was this line in the story I'm really referencing.



Suggesting it had to be specified to go to a certain group or use by the senders otherwise it was meant for the Church. This just seems so petty to me.

I guess.. but every church operates that way. You can put a specific note in the memo section that it's for "the youth group" or the "the building fund" or whatever.. if you don't put anything, it goes in the general fund..

So the church wasn't even obligated to kick that extra $1 million... In the end, it's a shame it's causing some division because up to now, they have handled this crisis as everybody should handle a crisis.

j/c

I was in Charleston last September and it was obviously still impacting the community in a large way.

I think it is incredibly kind of the church to give the extra million. For anyone that has been there, the church (especially its property) is in need of some care. And they are putting money towards scholarships.

I didn't lose a loved on in this, but between insurance (personal and church, if they had insurance), and the other money DC mentioned above, it is >$4m.

I predict a series of lawsuits...sad.

I would also think that there are victims beyond those killed and their families.

I am sure that there were many people who did not have a family member killed, but who still had difficulties as a result of the attack, and who need help.

I am sure that there are members of the community that need help, that the church feels they should reach out to as well.

Also, if the church is in a state of disrepair, fixing it in honor of those who were killed is a wonderful tribute to them.

I know that many churches are looking into security equipment, from alarms and cameras, to other more extensive systems. I hate to see this, as it could chase people who really need the church, away from the church. It is understandable though. Even my church is considering a security camera system.

I was so struck by the faith these people who lost loved ones showed following the attack. It saddens me to see that money now appears to be creating a wedge between these same people, and their church.

of course a church needs them mills.

tax free, of course.