Peterborough mosque hit by arson reaches $80K crowdfunding goal

A crowdfunding campaign to raise moneyfor repairs tomosque in Peterborough, Ont., that was damaged in afire set deliberatelyon Saturdayhas hit its goal of $80,000.

• Peterborough mosque set ablaze in suspected hate crime

The mosque was damaged in a fire late Saturday night. An entry on the fundraising websiteFundRazrset a goal of $80,000, the estimated cost to repair theKawartha Muslim Religious Association's mosque. That total was reached just after noon today.

Association president Kenzu Abdella said members of the congregation had been inside 784 Parkhill Rd. to celebrate the birth of a new baby just an hour before the fire broke out. He said the fire was "clearly a hate crime."

There have been concerns thatthe terrorist attacks Friday in Paris could incite a rise of Islamophobia or retaliatory violence around the world.

Abdella saidsince the Kawartha Muslim Religious Association was founded in 1994, it has only been targeted by criminals once before. After the 9/11 terror attacks, the previousbuildinghad its windows smashed out.

"The scare for people is that what if this had happened while we were in there?" he said Sunday. "So there's a bit of uneasiness in the community."

The mosque holds regular open houses that are attended by churchgoers and politicians. They alsomakeregular donations to the local food bank, according toAbdella.