Grassroots effort raising money for untested rape kits

The cost to test one rape kit is $490. Now about 10,000 kits from Wayne County, once piling up in storage have now been tested - but there are still 1,000 more to go.

A group of women is spearheading a new fundraising effort and want to make sure every single kit makes it to the crime lab.

The African-American 490 Challenge wants you to become involved in a movement led by African American women to bring justice to thousands of sexual assault victims in Detroit because of backlogged rape kits.

"We have survivors who have been silenced because kit has not been tested," says Larmender Davis of the African-American 490 Challenge.

More than five years ago, 11,341 unopened and untested rape kits were found in a Detroit Police Department storage unit.

The group Enough SAID was formed to not only raise money for the testing of these kits, but also for the investigation and prosecution of these crimes. The estimated cost is $10 million.

So far, money has been raised to process 10,000 of the 11,341 kits.

"That left 1,341 kits," says Peg Tallet of Enough Said. "So African American organizations said we'll work on that."

"Eighty-one percent of the rape kits untested is African American," says Davis. "And that's why we felt compelled to engage African-American women. These are our daughters, our sisters, our aunts, our cousins."

Organizers of the challenge say the goal is to raise at least 650,000 and they want you to know that no dollar amount is too small to give.

"Everybody should donate you can go to AfricanAmerica490challenge.org click on link to donate," said Jamilah Jackson.

In a statement to Fox 2, Wayne County's Prosecutor Kym Worthy says, "We desperately need help to get this done as quickly and efficiently as possible. We have to bring justice to these victims."

For more information, go to http://aa490challenge.org/ and to donate, go to https://www.crowdrise.com/africanamerican490challenge