T.I. joins Georgia church to bail out nonviolent offenders for Easter

Rapper T.I. collaborated with an Atlanta church in raising $120,000 to bail out 23 nonviolent offenders for Easter, according to Fox 5.

The New Birth Missionary Baptist Church partnered with the Atlantan rapper as well as Scrapp Deleon of VH1’s “Love and Hip Hop,” initially seeking to raise $40,000 to bail out nonviolent, predominantly first-time offenders. By the end of Lent, however, they had reached $120,000, enough to bring seven women and 16 men home for Easter Sunday, according to the news outlet.

{mosads}The program will also connect each beneficiary to a mentor for weekly meetings and put a portion of the donations toward college savings for beneficiaries’ children, according to Fox 5.

“For people to just reach out, willing to help out of the blue, them not knowing you from nobody…that’s a blessing,” Tyron Pollard, one of those bailed out under the program, told the news outlet. “I was doing drugs before I got locked up … but I don’t want to do nothing but do right and strive to be a model citizen for my kids.”

Senior pastor Dr. Jamal Bryant told the news outlet he was pleased with how many people the program was able to bail out and said the recipients were grateful as well. “It’s almost like finally meeting the good Samaritan – somebody who you don’t know that you didn’t see coming,” Bryant said, according to Fox 5. “They’re appreciative to be able to press the refresh button.”