By Nina Mandell
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Ten thousand dollars down, $99,900,000 left to go.
The controversial community center and mosque that is planned to be built near Ground Zero began it's funding drive with $10,000 in donations Friday, the New York Post reported.
The worshippers who had already attended prayer servicies at the vacant Burlington Coat Factory building dipped into their pockets for the funds as did other backers Friday.
The Park51 project plans to build at 13-story, $100 million mosque and community center at 45-47 Park Place, just a few blocks away from Ground Zero
Despite any evidence pointing towards wrongdoing, the financing of the project has come under fire by groups concerned where the large amount of money will come from.
But on "60 Minutes" interview aired on Friday, Sharif El-Gamal, one of the project's developers, promised the money would be transparent — and only from proper sources.
"We will not take money from Iran. We will not take money from Hamas. We will not take money from organizations that have un-American values," he said in the interview.
