A popular YouTuber in Wisconsin raised nearly $70,000 for a gaming lounge that was forced to close after looters in Kenosha caused tens of thousands of dollars in damage to the business, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Jeremy Hambly, who runs the YouTube channel “The Quartering” and has more than 850,00 subscribers, raised the money in a few days after Gravity Gaming’s owner Victor Estill announced he would have to permanently close the business due to a “catastrophic” amount of damage, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“We got looted. Everything in the store was taken and the place was destroyed. For a business that was struggling to get back to normal and pushing through these hard times we will not be able to come back from this,” the Facebook post announcing the closure said.
Local game shop in Kenosha.
Racism Defeated. pic.twitter.com/4sk0cThV3C
— TheQuartering (@TheQuartering) August 25, 2020
Estill only owned the business for about three years, but saw no way to go forward due to the cost of the destruction, even asking his fans not to set up a GoFundMe due to the extent of the damage. But Hambly did anyways, and raised $25,000 in hours. Estill announced Wednesday his business would reopen.
We’re already raised almost 10K in 90 Minutes. The total damage was about 50K. We can do something amazing! Back if you can, Share if you can’t!https://t.co/S93h6EKiQA
— TheQuartering (@TheQuartering) August 25, 2020
“I am lost for words,” said Estill. “It means the world to me.”
As of Thursday, the fundraiser collected more than $68,000 from more than 2,000 donors. Estill believes the damages could come to $80,000 total.
“I am a fellow gamer, and that is about it,” Hambly said according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Gaming is a universal connector. It does not care about race or political opinions. That is the real connection.”
Hambly explained how expensive gaming lounges can be to maintain for owners, while being inexpensive for customers, and called the businesses a “labor of love.”
“You open it for the community,” he said. “It is not to make money.”
Numerous businesses in Kenosha were looted and destroyed, some even set ablaze, after Jacob Blake was shot by police Sunday. Three individuals have reportedly been shot, and two killed, since the rioting erupted in the city.(RELATED: Daily Caller Reporter Richie McGinniss Rushes To Save Life Of Man Who Was Shot In Head During Kenosha, Wisconsin, Riots)