‘God cares about Fordyce’; Chicago nonprofit sets up memorials for Fordyce mass shooting victims

FORDYCE, Ark. – A Chicago-based nonprofit is hoping to spread light and love in the face of tragedy in Fordyce.

Lutheran Churches Charity (LCC) put four crosses in front of the Mad Butcher grocery store Tuesday to remember the four victims killed in the shooting. A fifth cross stands in the middle with information about how others can further support those impacted.

Setting up the cross memorials is something the nonprofit has done for years in the days following devastating events across the country like the Uvalde school shooting and the recent wildfires in Hawaii.

LCC officials said it first started with a man building the crosses in his garage after his son was killed. He began taking them around to locations for the victims of tragedies across the country, later bringing them to LCC to expand the mission.

Reverend Chris Singer, the CEO of LCC, said he hopes the people of Fordyce remember this message whenever they pass this store, and now the crosses out front, in the future.

"God cares about Fordyce," Singer said. "God cares about this community.”

The Mercy and Compassion Team with LCC enlisted the help of a K-9 emotional support dog, Persis, who traveled in from Oklahoma Tuesday.

Persis has been on the move since he got into town, visiting the hospital, funeral home and people impacted by the tragedy.

"We can't solve all of the evil and brokenness in this world, unfortunately, but the next best thing we can do is we can keep pushing back against it with light and love," Singer said. "That's what Jesus did for us and that's what we want to do for others."

Singer said an LCC team just went back to Uvalde for the second anniversary of the mass school shooting and saw the 19 crosses they put down after the shooting that are still standing today. He hopes the same thing happens here.

LCC has attached markers to every cross for people to sign them to show support.

from KARK https://ift.tt/0CKn81l