Oakland church continues spreading kindness after being burglarized twice in 48 hours

Saturday, July 6, 2024
OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Members of an Oakland church showed a commitment to service just days after being burglarized twice in 48 hours.

Volunteers showed up for a grocery giveaway Saturday at the East Bay Church of Religious Science.

Last Saturday and Sunday thieves broke into the church. They damaged doors and a security gate, then took off with the church offerings, audio and video equipment and several computers.

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Church members say they'll rebuild.



"You know from the beginning, our thing was forgive and forge on. We had prayer for the people who broke in and will continue to do that. We just kept going. We had our community service today, and last week we were doing a celebration of queer youth in our community, and tomorrow we'll be continuing that work," said Rev. Dereca Blackmon.

Insurance will help cover their losses but church officials say they're still about $20,000 short.

They've launched a GoFundMe to help bridge the gap.

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