K-Pop fans are no joke — particularly the massive fan army behind South Korean boy band BTS.
When news came out Saturday that BTS had donated $1 million to support the Black Lives Matter campaign amid worldwide protests against racism and police brutality, their fans decided to match it. And match it they did — in just over a day.
The donation from BTS sparked a #MatchAMillion hashtag trending worldwide on Twitter, with a set of BTS fans (One in an Army) setting up an online donation project for the cause. On Monday morning, One in an Army announced they had raised just over $1 million from nearly 35,000 donors.
“We added a goal tracker to our donation page and our website purely to keep ARMY updated on the total amount raised. We’ve run big projects before, but the amount of support for this project is overwhelming,” a spokesperson said in a press release. “We truly didn’t know whether the goal would be reached. We’re so proud that ARMY has once again channeled their power for good and are making a real impact in the fight against anti-black racism.”
You can still track donations in real time here & donate ➡️https://t.co/AUCRxhkKID⬅️ (for any org you do not want to donate to, just put the amount as 0)
If you donated to a different fundraiser, you can fill this form for your donation to get tracked: https://t.co/81YKYqJtND
— One in an ARMY⁷ Charity Project 💜 (@OneInAnARMY) June 8, 2020
None of the fan group’s organizers are South Korean, according to their website, with most from Europe or North America.
The announcement follows a recent online effort by K-pop fans to take over the controversial #WhiteLivesMatter hashtag, often used by those who criticize the anti-racism protesters, by posting the tag along with videos and images of their favorite singers.
By: Dammy Eneli
See Also: K-Pop Fans Take Over #whitelivesmattter Hashtag From Racists