Memorial for 9 slain South Carolina churchgoers receives $250K grant

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Plans are moving forward to construct a memorial to the nine African American worshippers who were killed at a South Carolina church.

The Mother Emanuel Memorial Foundation announced Monday that Bank of America is giving the board a $250,000 grant toward the construction of a permanent memorial at the Mother Emanuel A.M.E Church in downtown Charleston, news outlets reported.

Construction is expected to cost about $10 million, which includes buying additional property. The foundation has raised over $7 million as of Monday, Foundation Board Co-Chair John Darby said. Money has been raised through vigils and other donations, including a $500,000 grant from Wells Fargo in October and a $1 million pledge from the Robert and Janice McNair Foundation in August.

On June 17, 2015, Dylann Roof entered Mother Emanuel and waited while churchgoers held a Bible study before opening fire on them. He killed nine people and was convicted of their deaths in December 2016.

“(The church) welcomed a 13th person that night ... with a kind word, a Bible, a handout and a chair,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Richardson said during the trial. “He had come with a hateful heart and a Glock .45.”

Daughters of Charleston church shooting victim bring mother's memories to Charlotte Daughters of Charleston church shooting victim bring mother's memories to Charlotte

Plans for the memorial were released in July 2018 and were designed by Michael Arad, the same architect who created the National September 11 Memorial in New York City.

The memorial includes a marble fountain engraved with the victims' name surrounded by two high-back benches facing each other that resemble “sheltering wings.”

“When you walk into the memorial, it’s going to give you the feeling of being embraced, just embraced with warmth,” said City Councilman William Dudley Gregorie, a church trustee who lost a loved one in the attack.

The memorial will also include a survivors’ garden with six stone benches and five trees to represent the five survivors and the church.

Roof was sentenced to death and currently sits on death row. His attorneys are appealing his conviction and sentence. Roof had staged a hunger strike last month because he said he’s been verbally harassed and abused without cause. Sources said he has since started eating again.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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