Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson was so moved by the tragedy that struck Charleston that he's decided to donate $100,000 to the Mother Emanuel Hope Fund to help each of the families who lost a loved one during Wednesday night's horrific killings.
The Mother Emanuel Hope Fund was set up by the city of Charleston to "provide direct financial support for the funeral and burial expenses of the nine victims."
Richardson's donation was made public on Saturday when Bakari Sellers, a Democratic member of the South Carolina House of Representative, tweeted out a picture of the letter that Richardson wrote.
From the letter:
In honor of Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Cynthia Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, DePayne Middleton-Doctor, The Reverend Clementa Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, The Reverend Daniel L. Simmons Sr., and Myra Thompson, please accept the enclosed check from the Carolina Panthers in the amount of $100,000 to provide $10,000 per family to help defray funeral costs and other financial needs of each, and $10,000 for the church as a memorial honoring the victims.
Our hearts are one with those who grieve the loss of these individuals.
Respectfully,
Jerry Richardson
As the letter notes, $10,000 of the donation will go to the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, where the killings took place.
"We don't want to comment on the specifics of the donation, but know our hearts are one with those who grieve the loss of these individuals," a Panthers spokesman told the Charlotte Observer.
The senseless killings struck close to home in the NFL. Chiefs safety Sanders Commings was related to Reverend Clementa Pinckney, one of the victims.
The suspect in the killings, Dylann Roof, has been charged with nine counts of murder.