Nine Years Later – Honoring Her Memory
The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was nine years ago today
Picture of Charlotte Bacon shortly before the shooting. (Courtesy of the Bacon Family)
Nine years ago today, tragedy struck the community of Newtown, Connecticut. The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School killed 6 staff members and 20 children. The people of Newtown came together to combat an act of violence with kindness and hope.
Shortly after the shooting, Aaron Carlson, the parent of a student at Sandy Hook Elementary School, along with the parents of Charlotte Bacon, a child killed in the shooting, founded Newtown Kindness in Charlotte’s memory.
“Charlotte’s energy and enthusiasm for almost everything was infectious. We hear loving stories from friends and family and the words they use are smart, funny, curious, messy, unintimidated, and adventurous to describe her,” Charlotte’s mother says on their website. “Her Dad and I like to use the word bold, and it is this trait that we emulate as we honor Charlotte.” To see a short video about Charlotte and Newtown Kindness, click here.
They started the Charlotte Bacon Act of Kindness Awards to honor children around the country for their kindness. People from around the world started to submit entries about their acts of kindness.
On February 22nd of 2013, what would have been Charlotte’s 7th birthday, Newtown Kindness hosted the first Charlotte Bacon Act of Kindness Awards Ceremony. They continued to host these ceremonies for a number of years, honoring people for their kindness. These awards have since been suspended, but now the organization has been renamed the Charlotte Helen Bacon (CHB) Foundation and has a therapy dog program, to honor Charlotte’s love of dogs. Additionally, they have set up scholarship programs to help parents struggling with the loss of a child, as well as to help students striving to be a veterinarian like Charlotte.
To learn more about their organization and what they do, click here.
