A small crowd of nearly 30 gathered Friday night for a “Gathering of Grief and Resolve,” an event hosted by the Owensboro-Daviess County Ministerial Association. People of all ages, races and faiths stood in a circle to show sympathy and support for the cities recently impacted by mass shootings.
Claudia Ramisch, president of the ministerial association, said Friday’s event was planned because of her group’s concern about violence.
“There have been more mass shootings in the United States than we have had days this year,” she said. “There have been seven murders in Owensboro in less than seven months.”
But Ramisch said her group also wanted to highlight the people in the community that are trying to do something about the problem, citing groups like Owensboro for Peace, Nonviolent Owensboro and Dugan Best Recreation Center.
“It’s not just dark times,” she said. “We are doing some very positive things here.”
Ramisch said the size of Friday’s crowd was not important.
“It doesn’t matter how many attend,” she said. “We are doing this because we need to.”
Owensboro Human Relations Commission Executive Director Kaitlin Nonweiler also spoke at Friday’s event.
“In everything our commission does, we try to have representation of different races, religions, nationalities and genders,” she said. “To come to an event like this where that diversity is seen and they are coming together for a common cause is so encouraging. This is what it is going to take to effect change.”
