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The awful wait for news of the missing weighed even on those without a connection to them.
“I personally did not know anybody in the building, but I certainly am good friends with a lot of people that did,” Rev. Robert Asinger said. “So it becomes not just a building collapse. It becomes about Bill or Fred or whoever it is. And it makes it very personal.”
Struck with an urge to help, reverends told almost 40 worshippers that the church had opened a disaster relief fund with $20,000.
“When Parkland happened and when Pulse happened, we prayed but there was a distance,” Rev. Barbara Asinger said. “I think that s how we survive as human beings. We create distance because we hear so much these days. When you can t do that anymore, you weep. You weep and then you try to determine how to help.”