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More Delphi businesses hold fundraisers for families of murdered teens

Posted at 5:30 PM, Feb 18, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-18 17:30:38-05

DELPHI, Ind. – Three days after authorities positively identified the two bodies found in Delphi, IN as teens Abigail Williams and Liberty German, the community has continued to rally behind the families impacted by the tragic incident.

On Friday, George Mendel, owner of Hometown Shirts and Graphix, announced the store would sell a special T-shirt design, with the help of family, to honor Williams and German.

Now, several other businesses have joined in.

On Feb. 24 Delphi Pizza King will hold a benefit fundraiser from 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. with proceeds going to the teens’ families.

DELPHI TIMELINE | Teen girls found dead after disappearing while hiking

A sign placed on the door of the restaurant states, “In our community, when bad happens, we ban together.”

“These families are our friends, our neighbors and have a hard road ahead of them. They will be in need of prayers, financial needs and just the respect knowing our community is here for them when we need to be. We invite everyone in our community and surrounding communities to come and help our efforts to assist these families.”

“We are a very close knit small community so this hits very hard, even though it’s a family that doesn’t deserve this,” said Tracy Martin, co-owner of Pizza King. “It could be anyone, it just hurts. It’s very emotional and sad.”

Stone House Restaurant & Bakery is selling Abby and Liberty decorated cookies for $10 with all proceeds benefiting families.

“I can’t express it and it just fills my heart because that’s what small communities do,” said bakery employee, Sharon Herron. “It’s family and you reach out to one another in love.”

The morning of Feb. 18 brought more than 3,000 people to the city of Delphi for a motorcycle benefit ride.

“This is totally overwhelming, a lot more (people) than what we expected,” said Bruce Wilson, who helped organize the event. “We were guessing maybe 600 people and we’ve got right over 3,000. For this community to come together like it has, it’s amazing.”

Organizers said they are unsure about how much money was raised, but they were pleased with the outcome. 

MORE ON DELPHI: 

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