CARMEL, Ind. (WTHR) – About 2,500 Hoosier families will be medical debt free, thanks to donations from a central Indiana church.
The congregation at Northview Church in Carmel raised $20,000.
At first, they didn't know what cause the money would be used for.
This weekend the pastor announced they're using it to pay off medical bills for Hoosier families in Indianapolis, Anderson, Carmel, Fishers, Kokomo, Lafayette and Westfield.
The church partnered with the charity group "RIP Medical Debt."
RIP Medical Debt takes donations, like the giving from Northview Church, to purchase debt at pennies on the dollar. The debt is then paid off forever, with no adverse consequences to those who are helped.
In all, they'll cancel out $2 million in debt.
"It adds up. Causes stress with relationships, with spouses, with kids and just always thinking about that mounting up," said Northview Church's Senior Pastor Steve Poe. "And so we wanted to do something to bless the community to say God cares about you, north view cares about you, we want to take some of the stress off of you."
The families are chosen randomly. Letters will go out next month to let the families know their debt has been paid off.