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British girl sends $3 to Notre Dame appeal

Caitlyn was not alone in sending her money by post: Another Briton sent an envelope containing six 50 pounds notes ($387) to the foundation.

British girl sends $3 to Notre Dame appeal

The Notre Dame Cathedral is on fire in central Paris, capital of France (Photo: IANS)

A nine-year-old British girl sent $3 to the Fondation du Patrimoine, one of the four organisations tasked by the French government with collecting donations for the reconstruction of the Notre Dame after a fire ravaged the Paris cathedral earlier this month.

“Dear people of France and Paris. My name is Caitlyn, and I am 9 years old, I live in England,” Caitlyn Handley wrote in a letter to the foundation seen by CNN.

“I heard about the Notre Dame fire on the radio and wanted to help, I know it’s not much, but every bit helps. Hopefully, it won’t take too long to build. Thanks, Caitlyn.”

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Simon Handley, Caitlyn’s father, told CNN that his daughter was “very upset” by the crisis after discovering how old the cathedral was.

He described his daughter as a “very bright girl” who cares deeply about “helping people and animals”.

Laurence Levy, a spokeswoman for the Fondation du Patrimoine, told CNN that the organisation is receiving thousands of cheques a day.

“Our whole team has been mobilised and many volunteers have come to help us because we are not accustomed to receiving such an influx of donations in such a short space of time in our normal work.”

Caitlyn was not alone in sending her money by post: Another Briton sent an envelope containing six 50 pounds notes ($387) to the foundation.

These two British donations are among thousands from abroad. The Fondation du Patrimoine said that it had received 17,300 donations totalling $1.7 million from more than 160 foreign countries.

Levy told CNN that the organisation has collected a total of $183 million since the launch of its campaign.

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