As Pittsburgh continues to reel from a tragic weekend, a Muslim-led effort has begun a crowdfunded campaign to raise money for the victims of Saturday’s synagogue shooting. Posted on LaunchGood, a Muslim-focused crowdfunding site, the effort aims to help support the short-term needs of victims and their families by raising money for medical bills, funeral costs and other expenses after a gunman stormed services at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue, killing 11 and wounding 6 before being captured by police. The charity drive has already been a success, with organizers claiming to have raised an average of $2,000 per hour since launching the effort on Saturday. Within six hours, the campaign had already reached its initial goal of $25,000. In less than 24 hours, it had broken $50,000. Two Muslim-led nonprofits, CelebrateMercy and MPower Change, organized the fundraising drive in partnership with the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh and the Tree of Life Synagogue, which will work together to distribute the funds to victims and their families. Tarek El-Messidi, the founding director of CelebrateMercy, says the effort is part of his group’s larger belief in responding to hatred with acts of goodness. “We recognize that the money can’t bring back loved ones that [families] have lost so tragically, nor can it physically heal any of the wounds,” El-Messidi told TIME. “But we do hope the money can in some way lift their spirits, lift the burdens of funeral expenses and medical costs.” For those Pittsburgh Muslims closer to the tragedy, the effort is also simply about helping neighbors and rebuilding their community. “Those who were stolen from us by this hateful person were like family,” says Wasi Mohamed, the Executive Director of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh and Emgage Pennsylvania, a nonprofit Muslim advocacy organization. “We feel obligated to follow this Prophetic tradition on standing up for the Jewish community.” “The Pittsburgh Muslim Community extends our deepest sympathy and condolences to the victims, their families, and all of our Jewish brothers and sisters,” the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh said in a statement. “We condemn this hate crime unequivocally, and denounce all forms of hatred and bigotry. The Pittsburgh community is our family; what happens to one of us, is felt by us all.” Mohamed added that local Muslims have also pledged to support the Jewish community in non-monetary ways during this difficult period, offering trips to the grocery store, protection during services or help with other needs. For El-Messidi, the past few years have not been an easy time to be an American Muslim, which is all the more reason to reach out to others in their times of need. “For one community that’s feeling threatened to reach out to another community that’s also feeling threatened… hopefully it will inspire other people around the country and around the world to engage in similar action,” he said. This latest fundraiser is only the latest of CelebrateMercy’s outreach efforts, which they say are inspired by the teachings and life of the Prophet Mohamed. Following the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya, the group organized a campaign for Muslims from around the world to write condolence letters to the family of slain Ambassador Chris Stevens. In the end, they helped send 7,700 letters from Muslims in 115 countries. The group has also raised hundred of thousands of dollars to benefit the San Bernardino shooting victims in 2015, and to repair vandalized Jewish cemeteries in St. Louis and Philadelphia in 2017. “If there’s a silver lining related to this tragedy, it’s that [the Muslim and Jewish] communities that have not worked that closely together are starting a dialogue,” says El-Messidi. “For the first time they’re able to put aside… geopolitics or international politics and really work together for a human cause.” Get The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. Please enter a valid email address. * The request timed out and you did not successfully sign up. Please attempt to sign up again. Sign Up Now An unexpected error has occurred with your sign up. Please try again later. Check the box if you do not wish to receive promotional offers via email from TIME. You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thank you! For your security, we've sent a confirmation email to the address you entered. Click the link to confirm your subscription and begin receiving our newsletters. If you don't get the confirmation within 10 minutes, please check your spam folder. Write to Alejandro de la Garza at alejandro.delagarza@time.com.<doc-sep>He also helped start a Muslim-led fundraiser for the victims of the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif., in 2015 that raised more than $215,000. In 2012, after the attacks on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya, that led to the killing of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans, El-Messidi called on Muslims to write condolence letters to the Stevens family and presented 8,000 of them to Stevens’s sister that Thanksgiving.<doc-sep>The executive director of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh is offering protection for the Jewish community's religious services after a mass shooting at a synagogue in the city on Saturday left 11 people dead. "We just want to know what you need," Wasi Mohamed said late Sunday. "If it’s people outside your next service protecting you, let us know. We’ll be there. "If you need anything at all, if you need food for the families, if you just need someone to come to the grocery store because you don’t feel safe in this city, we’ll be there. And I’m sure everybody in the room would say the same thing." Leader of Islamic Center of Pittsburgh announces Muslim community has raised more than $70,000 for synagogue attack victims and their families. "We just want to know what you need ... If it's people outside your next service protecting you, let us know. We'll be there." pic.twitter.com/D2UyNzBFHx — NBC News (@NBCNews) October 29, 2018 Mohamed made the offer while announcing that the Muslim community had raised more than $70,000 for the victims of the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue. ADVERTISEMENT By Monday morning, the crowdfunding campaign, which was launched by the nonprofit organizations Celebrate Mercy and MPower Change, had raised over $120,000 from about 2,800 supporters. The funds will cover costs such as funeral expenses and medical bills for the victims and their families. The announcement came just a day after Robert Gregory Bowers, 46, allegedly opened fire in the Tree of Life Synagogue and killed 11 congregants in what was one of the deadliest attacks on the Jewish community in American history. It was at least the third mass shooting in a place of worship in the U.S. in the last three years.<doc-sep>
A crowdfunding campaign started by two Muslim groups has raised more than $110,000 for the victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting on Saturday which left 11 people dead. The campaign was set up through the platform LaunchGood, a crowdfunding platform focused on the global Muslim community. The funds will help cover the "immediate, short-term needs of the injured victims and grieving families," such as funeral and medical bills. The campaign surpassed its initial goal of $25,000 within six hours of launching on Saturday. A crowdfunding campaign started by two Muslim groups has raised more than $110,000 for the victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting on Saturday which left 11 people dead. The campaign was set up through the platform LaunchGood, a crowdfunding platform focused on the Muslim community worldwide. The campaign for the Pittsburgh shooting victims was started by Tarek El-Messidi, who is a Muslim-American social entrepreneur and speaker, according to his LaunchGood user account. Two Muslim-American non-profits, Celebrate Mercy and MPower Change, were behind the campaign titled "Muslims Unite For Pittsburgh Synagogue." The fund is also in partnership with the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh, who will work directly with the Tree of Life synagogue — where the shooting took place — to distribute funds to those affected, according to the campaign's LaunchGood page. People support each other in front of a makeshift memorial at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh on Sunday. AP Photo/Matt Rourke According to the page, the funds will help cover the "immediate, short-term needs of the injured victims and grieving families — including funeral expenses and medical bills." "No amount of money will bring back their loved ones, but we do hope to lessen their burden in some way," the campaign wrote. As of 3 a.m. EDT, the campaign raised over $110,000, far surpassing their initial goal of $25,000. The initial target was reached in only six hours since it began on Saturday, according to the campaign. The campaign had gone viral and hit its second goal of $50,000 in just one day. "Through this campaign, we hope to send a united message from the Jewish and Muslim communities that there is no place for this type of hate and violence in America," the campaign organizers wrote. "We pray that this restores a sense of security and peace to the Jewish-American community who has undoubtedly been shaken by this event." SWAT police officers respond after gunfire at the Tree of Life synagogue on Saturday. Reuters Eleven people were killed and six others were injured when a gunman armed with an AR-15 and handguns stormed the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh on Saturday. When police rushed the synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, they were met with gunfire. The suspect, Robert Bowers, was eventually taken into custody and reportedly told one police officer: "All these Jews need to die." The shooting is believed to be the deadliest attack on Jewish people in US history, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Kelly McLaughlin contributed to this report.