HAMPTON ROADS, Va. - VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads is partnering with several businesses in a show of solidarity to the victims of the mass shooting in Virginia Beach.
As part of the organization's "Signs of Strength" campaign, 12 businesses and community spaces throughout Hampton Roads are posting blank banners in their store for the public to sign and send their messages of hope, hurt, healing and strength for the victims of the mass shooting.
Faces of the Virginia Beach mass shooting
Organizers said "Signs of Strength is a campaign created to demonstrate the strength and support the community has shown in response to the Virginia Beach Municipal Shooting."
The banners are 12 feet long. Along with supporting the victims and their families, they also want to use the blank canvasses to recognize the first responders who responded to the tragic shooting.
“We thought this was a great way to show the entire community's outpouring in one way," Lexie Martinez, the organization's Program Associate, explained. "They could see not just one card in front of them.”
Murphy's Irish Pub on Atlantic Avenue is one of the businesses taking part.
They told News 3 this is a "unique opportunity."
“We think it’s a unique opportunity to be involved," General Manager Chip Holland explained. "It allows people a place to come that might not be able to make a monetary donation and express their thoughts and feelings though pen and paper.”
The organization will be taking the banners to the stores Wednesday. These locations are in the cities of Virginia Beach, Hampton, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Suffolk.
“It was important not for us to allow people in Chesapeake, Norfolk, the Peninsula to express their support for us because it was a tragedy that affected all of us," Martinez said.
After the completion of the project, VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads will gift the signs to the City of Virginia Beach.
Virginia Beach
- TowneBank: Princess Anne Location - Wednesday, June 12, 10 a.m.- 6 p.m.
- New Realm Brewing - Wednesday, June 12 through Saturday, June 15, 4 p.m. - 8 p.m.
- Chick's Oyster Bar - Friday, June 14 at noon through Saturday, June 15 at 11 a.m.
- Murphy's Irish Pub - Wednesday, June 12 through Friday, June 14, open - close
- Lidl, Edison Rd - Wednesday, June 12 through Saturday, June 15, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
- Lynnhaven Mall - Friday, June 14 through Saturday, June 15, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Norfolk
- MacArthur Center- Wednesday, June 12 through Thursday, June 13, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
- Hampton Roads Chamber, at the Main (the Hilton Hotel) (outside the Paul Fraim Auditorium) - Thursday, June 13, 3 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Chesapeake
- Chesapeake City Hall Lobby - Wednesday, June 12, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Portsmouth
- Roger Brown's - Friday, June 14 through Saturday, June 15, open - close
Suffolk
- Hub757- Wednesday, June 12 through Thursday, June 13, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Hampton
- Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce- Wednesday, June 12 through Friday, June 14, 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Click here for our full coverage on the Virginia Beach mass shooting.
