BALTIMORE — On Wednesday night 252 people weren't home in Baltimore city.
They are gone and on Wednesday night a group of people who have felt that pain want the families to know they are not forgotten.
On the National Night of Remembrance a group of people who have experienced loss came together at the corner of Loch Raven and Northern Parkway.
The event was organized by Angie Winder of the Restoring the Village Group.
She was crushed when her husband Dominick was killed 16 years ago and has turned that pain into action.
“We need to be back to being a family,” said Winder. “We need our leadership to understand how important it is for us. Not so much the number, we can get caught on 252, but to know that families are being affected. We need to stand up for them, they need resources.”
Sylvia Harris, the mother of former City Councilman Kenneth Harris, was crying for her son who was killed and her city that she loves.
“The mother’s hearts are breaking the children are falling by the wayside,” Harris said. “They don’t want to go to school because they scared. Lord we need you please.”
Destini Pilpot is a member of Baltimore Ceasefire and Students Demand Action Baltimore.
She got involved because she’s tired of attending classmates’ funerals.
“I want to really emphasize the fact that I’m 19,” said Pilpot. “I’ve lost 5 friends to gun violence this year alone and over a dozen in my lifetime.”
The recent City College grad carries their memories with her.
Her classmate Ray Glassgow was killed in Southeast Baltimore last year.
“Walking down the hall and hearing him say like 'hey ugly', that was like the brightness of my day," Pilpot said. "Finishing my senior year and I couldn’t hear him say that anymore. It did something to me. Seeing how it broke an entire school.”
They were watching over her when she testified against gun violence before congress a week ago.
“As much as I push for policy and legislation,” said Pilpot. “We can’t do this work alone, we have to look at it from a community level. We have to be willing to allow our community to heal.”
On Saturday, August 28 one of the groups at the event No One Left Unhelped Incorporated is holding an event for the children of murdered parents.
It starts at 4 p.m. at Rash Field.
