Group of women raise hundreds of thousands for looted black owned businesses

ATLANTA - Businesses across Atlanta are working to get back on their feet following the coronavirus and now, weekend riots but a group of women fundraised hundreds of thousands of dollars for looted black owned businesses 

RCR Consignment has been in business for 6 years.

It only took 16 minutes to halt the establishment’s success.

 "They busted the windows, the cash register," owner Chanel Hawk explained.

From 5:47 until 6:03 early Saturday morning, rioters infiltrated the shop, juxtaposing peaceful protests condemning police brutality, and the death of George Floyd.

Those doing the damage in atlanta and across the country have said peaceful demonstrations have yet to stop police killings of African americans, so they took matters into their own hands.

That's why a group of women in Atlanta are stepping up to make sure black-owned businesses, which are known to flourish here, don’t go belly-up in because of one day's unfortunate events.

Kelysha McCoy is one of several women who have come up with the Atlanta Black Owned Business fund.

 "We are more than happy to help," she said.

They raised $200,000 within hours of the looting by word of mouth and collaborating on social media.

 "The fund is growing far beyond what we expeted," she said.

Loyal customers pitched in and recommended stores in need of help.

"People keep asking 'why don’t black owned businesses have insurance,'" Hawk said, "But what they don’t get is insurance doesn’t cover everything," she said.

RCR consignment will get $20,000 for damage to the store.

"We have to uplift," McCoy said.

"Let's focus on restoring our city," McCoy said.

McCoy says the fund continues to grow, so much so that she hopes to help other businesses outside of the city, after having had a large enough impact on the city of Atlanta.

To assist with the effort, email abobr2020@gmail.com.