Some people have prepared food, while others bring toys for the children.
Different people and organizations have had different initiatives to help families affected by the shooting in Uvalde, Texas. From cooking to bringing golden retrievers.
Carlos Hernández likes to cook, especially when he does it for the people he loves. But in days gone by, for the first time in his life, he mightn’t light the grill.
“There is no way I can open my kitchen with a broken heart and have fun doing it,” she wrote on Facebook.
Hours earlier, a gunman had entered Robb Elementary School, just a mile from his restaurant, and brutally slaughtered 19 children and two teachers in an act of incomprehensible evil.
That left Hernandez shaken, briefly paralyzed.
But two days later, determined and desperate, she put on an apron and went to work. He decided that now, more than ever, Uvalde needed his meals.
Within hours, Hernandez had doled out more than 60 family-size trays of fried fish, creamy macaroni and cheese and other acclaimed Texas dishes to grieving community members too distraught to cook for themselves.
Between full plates, Hernandez took time to hug, cry and listen to neighbors as they unloaded days of pent-up emotions and stress. Many, devastated by the violence, cried, ate, and then cried once more.
To encourage passers-by, he even wrote messages of hope and togetherness on the windows of his restaurant.
“It’s a really tough situation, I’m just trying to show the kids that they have us as their backbone and as a support system,” she told CNN. “We always are, whether or not there is an incident.”
Hernandez is just one of many people who have come together under the banner “Uvalde Strong” to help relieve another American community torn apart by the scourge of gun violence. Last week, hundreds of people from near and far lined up in the city center to offer volunteer services and other acts of solidarity.
“What we do is show families that we care,” Hernandez said, before admitting he doesn’t know if the community will ever fully recover. For now, though, he and others are committed to helping Uvalde grieve and cope.
“We will stay as long as they need us”
For seven years, Bonnie Fear has traveled with Lutheran Church Charities across the US to offer comfort to survivors of tragedy with emotional support dogs.
This week, the crisis response coordinator and her team of trainers are in Uvalde with eight golden retrievers: Abner, Cubby, Devorah, Elijah, Gabriel, Joy, Miriam and Triton.
Together, they sit in the town square inviting adults and children alike to stroll and play. In fact, the dogs wear blue vests that say “please pet me.”
“A lot of times following something like that, people don’t want to talk to a human,” Fear explained to CNN.
“After traumatic events, people don’t want to deal with other people, sometimes they just want something they can touch, talk regarding without being judged, and it’s that simple,” he added.
“They show unconditional love,” he said, pointing to the dogs.
There are signs of pain all over the town square. A woman kneels in front of a cross and cries, shaking so badly that she struggles to catch her breath. On the pew behind her, a family of three sit together reciting a prayer.
The air is heavy with sadness, and the children feel it, until they see the dogs. Suddenly their faces light up with smiles.
A little girl sits on the grass and hugs Miriam, a lop-eared princess who loves to be hugged. As she walks away from her, tears are seen running down her face. But when Miriam walks in for a kiss, she laughs. Her mother looks on fighting back tears.
“That’s why we’re here, to help people express their feelings,” Fear said.
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Earlier on Saturday, Fear and her team attended a private event where families directly affected by the shooting gathered to mourn.
“You might tell that a lot of the kids weren’t ready to talk yet. They were walking towards a dog quite sad and confused,” she said. “But when they were done with that dog, they were hugging each other and smiling and even talking to the dog.”
Parents were overcome with emotion as they watched their children interact with the animals, Fear said. For the first time in days, her children were smiling once more.
At one point, there was so much laughter coming from the area that officials became concerned and reached out to check what was going on, he said.
“It was our group with our dogs and kids,” Fear said. “I won’t say they were happy exactly, but they were enjoying the moment of forgetting the horror.”
The grieving and healing process will take a long time, Fear said. For many, it has not yet begun.
“We will be back. In a crisis like this, the healing process does not happen in four or five days. We will bring more dogs and stay as long as necessary.”
“It makes you think of your own children”
For Patrick Johnson, traveling to Uvalde represents both an act of service and survival. Hearing of the massacre, he was so overwhelmed with grief that he was unable to go on with his day.
“I immediately broke down and cried,” Johnson, 58, told CNN. “I’m not even from this community, but it hurts me. It makes you think of your own children. It makes you realize that you might have been mourning your children,” he added.
Johnson packed his car and drove more than seven hours from Harleton, Texas, to Uvalde. His first stop in town was the Walmart, where he filled his trunk with children’s toys before heading to the town square.
For three days, Johnson sat in the Texas sun showing off a table full of stuffed animals, miniature trucks, Frisbees and soccer balls. He invited passing children to choose any toy they liked, a simple gift from a stranger with a big heart. Every time the table emptied out, he would run to Walmart to restock.
“When you lose something, especially as a child, you need something else to hold on to,” he said. “This makes the kids happy, so it makes me happy.”
“It has been a roller coaster of emotions. She was handing out toys and a girl wanted a big white puppy that I had, she just lit up. I told her I would compete with her for her toy and let her win. She took the toy puppy and the way she held it… she hugged me and said thank you and how happy she was. That’s why I’m here,” she added.
It’s not the first time Johnson has offered support to a Texas community reeling from gun violence. He drove to Sutherland Springs in 2017 and Santa Fe in 2018 to provide care and assistance following mass shootings there.
Repeated tragedies leave Johnson emotionally drained, but he says Uvalde is where he belongs now.
“Especially in Texas, we don’t wait for the government to do things, we help our own people,” he said, before encouraging others to join the effort.
“There are many ways to be a blessing to people,” he insisted.
A haven for grieving families
Before the shooting, the El Progreso Memorial Library was simply a place to read and borrow books. But it has been transformed into a space to heal.
“We want our building to be a safe space, a quiet, calm, cool haven,” Mendell Morgan, the library’s director, told CNN.
The day following the tragedy, the library welcomed members of the community with a selection of books and other resources on grief and bereavement, as well as hope, inspiration and guidance.
It also held “Story Time with Miss Martha,” where librarian Martha Carreón read, sang, and laughed alongside local children.
Morgan explains that he wants El Progreso to play an active role in the healing process for the children and adults of Uvalde. In the coming days and weeks, the library will host activities with psychologists, massage therapists, pianists, magicians, and artists to share their talents with the community.
“This is a small rural town with a strong Hispanic component. Family is key in this culture, which is why the heinous act has impacted an enormous number of people in Uvalde and far beyond,” he noted.
To ensure the support continues, his team established the Robb’s Little Angels Memorial Book Fund. Donations, which have already begun pouring in from across the US, will be used to purchase books, games, puzzles and fund programs that will help put families through the process of healing, Morgan said.
“We are still in shock,” he said. “First, time is needed to allow us all to recover from the shock, face the reality of the followingmath, and find positive ways to move forward,” she added.
“This is a strong community where we care regarding each other,” Morgan added. “Many if not most here hold on to their faith by believing in God, that good is stronger than evil, and that light is stronger than darkness.”
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