Sandy Hook Shooting Victims To Get Memorial Playgrounds

The Sandy Hook shooting victims have already had their fair share of memorials erected. Members of New Jersey’s largest fire fighters union think that the newest ideas for memorials may be the most apropos. As a way to commemorate the children and teachers shot in the Newtown massacre, the Firefighters’ Mutual Benevolent Association has pledged to finance the construction of 26 playgrounds throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

These memorials will also serve as a way to help the three states that were hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy this fall. The building of 26 playgrounds exactly is not a coincidence. That number represents all 20 children as well as the six school employees who were slaughtered at Sandy Hook elementary school.

The building of these memorials stands in stark contrast to rumored plans to tear the the elementary school down. The New York Daily News is reporting that New York and New Jersey will each get 10 playgrounds, while Connecticut will get the other six.

Sandy Hook shooting victims and Hurricane Sandy will be tied together in the memorials, which the playgrounds all carrying the shared name in some way. One of the firefighters involved in raising the money for these playgrounds, Bill Lavin told the Los Angeles Times that the association needs to raise about $2 million for the project.

Lavin said that everyone he’s talked to about the project has been visibly moved:

“Everyone I spoke to had a tear in their eye, and the response from the families validated that I needed to do this.”

Lavin added that he has reached out the families of all 26 shooting victims and he’s heard back from 16. All the families who have responded have been supportive of the project. Do you think is a good memorial for the Sandy Hook shooting victims as well as those affected by Hurricane Sandy?