South Bend church standing strong after shooting
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A shooting at South Bend church has left many in the community wanting support. On Saturday, they worked together to give back and send a message that they cannot be messed with.
"Support, that's something this community needs," says Essence Mosgrove.
That's how community members of Kingdom Christian Center in South Bend feel after a shooting at their church almost two weeks ago.
Pastor Canneth Lee says he is striving to give his community that support.
“It’s been exciting, it’s been fun, it’s been exhausting," says Pastor Canneth Lee. "But we still have a ways to go because we want to fill this truck up.”
Saturday, the church and Pastor Lee worked all day with volunteers to fill a 50-foot trailer with donations for Goodwill. They say they want to help their community, despite that shooting.
“We are trying to make this the center of the neighborhood like churches used to be," says Pastor Lee. "We do this as a benefit to the neighborhood.”
“This is showing that we are here, we are going to be here, and we are not going to move," says Mosgrove. "They try to scare us off last week and that didn’t work, that didn’t do nothing but make us strive and work harder for our community.”
For Mosgrove, being a part of this church means to always give back.
“We reach out so much that it becomes second nature and all we want to do is help. And KCC means help and honor,” says Mosgrove.
Members of the church say it is their home and they do not plan to leave.
“And that truck, we want to fill it up to the top to show that we are here and we are not going anywhere,” says Mosgrove.