People across the nation are putting pen to paper following this week’s mass shooting in Orlando, FL.
Businesses and organizations are hosting events for individuals to write letters, cards and other messages for the victims’ families.
At one event in Bloomington, IN, participants were provided with the mailing addresses for the gay club where the massacre occurred, as well as Florida organizations that serve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
“I’m letting people know we’re all here. We’re all feeling this. Horrified,” McKenzie Goodrich told the Herald-Times newspaper.
Another participant, Abigail Cesnik, said writing letters helped her feel less alone after the tragedy.
“[It] allows us to process our thoughts, and say how we feel,” Cesnik told IDS, Indiana University’s student news service.
Letters can be a source of comfort for victims’ families, according to Katie Medley, whose husband Caleb was injured during the 2012 mass shooting in Aurora, CO.
“That was something that really helped me through everything. I used to read the letters to Caleb when he was in a coma,” she told KSDK-TV this week. “Letting him know that there are others out there thinking of him from everywhere.”