Peterborough mosque hit by arson reaches $80K crowdfunding goal
A crowdfunding campaign to raise money for repairs to mosque in Peterborough, Ont., that was damaged in a fire set deliberately on Saturday has hit its goal of $80,000.
The mosque was damaged in a fire late Saturday night. An entry on the fundraising website FundRazr set a goal of $80,000, the estimated cost to repair the Kawartha Muslim Religious Association's mosque. That total was reached just after noon today.
Association president Kenzu Abdella said members of the congregation had been inside 784 Parkhill Rd. to celebrate the birth of a new baby just an hour before the fire broke out. He said the fire was "clearly a hate crime."
There have been concerns that the terrorist attacks Friday in Paris could incite a rise of Islamophobia or retaliatory violence around the world.
Abdella said since the Kawartha Muslim Religious Association was founded in 1994, it has only been targeted by criminals once before. After the 9/11 terror attacks, the previous building had its windows smashed out.
"The scare for people is that what if this had happened while we were in there?" he said Sunday. "So there's a bit of uneasiness in the community."
The mosque holds regular open houses that are attended by churchgoers and politicians. They also make regular donations to the local food bank, according to Abdella.