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Erykah Badu Will Continue To Donate Portion Of Ticket Sales To Detroit Rape Kit Testing

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) -- After her concert at Chene Park on Friday, R&B singer Erykah Badu said she will continue to donate a portion of her ticket sales to support the group working to test the remaining abandoned rape kits found in Detroit.

"With every show, I pledge to donate the same amount of money for each show that I do," Badu said.

Badu's concert raised over $25,000 for the Enough SAID African American 490 Challenge. The effort beginning last year urges black women to raise multiples of $490 — the cost of processing a single rape kit.

A total of $5 per ticket sold was donated toward the cause. The group is just over the halfway mark in reaching its $659,000 goal.

With state funding, Michigan and the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office have tested more than 10,000 of the 11,341 kits that were found in a Detroit police property storage facility in 2009. Some of the sexual assaults occurred as far back as 1984. Testing has led to thousands of DNA matches and the identification of more than 549 serial rapists.

Dozens of offenders have been convicted as a result of the tests.

Learn more about the 490 Challenge or donate to the cause HERE.

 

TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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