WASHINGTON -- There was food, music, even a bouncy castle for the kids, but the event on Alabama Ave and Ainger Place in Southeast on Saturday afternoon was much more than that. Almost everyone who attended had a heartbreaking story.
"I lost my friend to gun violence on May 26," said 14-year-old Shawnda Joyner.
"My daughter was murdered in 2004 so I've actually been in the battlefield for 14 and a half years," said Debra Evans Bailey.
The community gathering in Ward 8 was meant to bring together those who've lost a loved one-- either to gun violence or because they've gone missing.
It was organized by Daryll Hairston I, who lost his son to gun violence three years ago and has since then put on a number of events around the DMV area to fight gun violence.
"Seeing him, I promised him that I would never allow his killing to go in vain. So that’s my drive to keep it going," said Hairston.
Hairston said he chose to host an event in Ward 8 because of recent shootings in that neighborhood.
"Southeast here in Ward 8 and Ward 7 is where the majority of the killings are happening," he said.
"We’re in an urban neighborhood, plenty of apartment complex, urban people in the neighborhood, I want them to come out and enjoy themselves and have a good time,' he said.
Hairston said he wants to remind victims' families that they're not alone.
"Not today lets not have a gun pulled out on anybody but lets enjoy each other, enjoy good music, enjoy good food, and watch the kids grow up," he said.
The event was also meant to raise awareness. Those who came out today hoped that sharing their personal stories with other members of the community would get others to think twice before picking up a gun.
"It takes a village, it takes a village to raise a child. It takes a village to save a child, it takes a village, we have to come together and unify, said Mel Tony Billie.
"It happened to us, we don’t want it to happen to anybody else," he added.
"I just really want the violence to stop, you never know who could be next," said Joyner.