Shine City Project
Las Vegas Community Healing Garden
Saturday, March 9, 2019
On October 1, 2017, 22,000 concert-goers had gathered for the final day of the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip. However, the lives of 58 individuals were taken away while hundreds more were injured during a tragic time in Las Vegas history. Though there was indescribable darkness and gloom that took place, there was an abundance of light that came from every direction as many did what they could to combat the darkness.
What was once a piece of desert land in Downtown became the Las Vegas Community Healing Garden in less than one week after the incident. The garden was built to not just honor those who lost their lives on October 1st, but to also celebrate the life, goodness, love, and compassion that came shortly after the incident.
On March 9, 2019, Shine City Project joined forces with Get Outdoors Nevada and hundreds of other volunteers to help do some planting and other tasks at the Las Vegas Community Healing Garden. With hearts full of love, our group of eight volunteers helped to plant colorful flowers at the garden, especially bright yellow ones. At the end of the service project, we took time to look around and offer our respects to all those who lost their lives. We were able to offer our prayers for seven minutes as a final farewell before leaving the garden.
It was the first time for a couple of our volunteers to join our group for a service project, but it was the first time for all of us to be at the garden. Several of our volunteers share their experiences below.
"It was a great experience to be able to contribute, and to share healing and love with other people. It had been a while since I was involved in a public service project, and I felt that this was a great opportunity. I feel lucky to have the life I have, and I am happy that I was able to share some of that love with those who have experienced great pain." – Francis
"Planting flowers at the site of this memorial brought us so much closer to the pain as well as the hope of the families affected by this incident." – Shahram
"Volunteering at the healing garden was an emotional experience for me. Each of the victims who lost their lives in the October 1st, 2017 shooting had their own tree with their picture on it. Seeing their faces made the shooting very real to me. It was a very sad experience, but I felt grateful to help contribute to the healing garden for all those who lost their lives alongside all the other volunteers who helped out. There was a positive atmosphere, and the people who volunteered all seemed to be good-hearted and caring people. I'm grateful for Shine City Project for providing this experience for me! – Robert A.
It was definitely a moving experience to be at the garden which was built with an incredible foundation of love and heart by many in the Las Vegas community and elsewhere. Though Las Vegas may be a place where there is self-centered and Satanic love, the Las Vegas Community Healing Garden is a place where the selfless love of God can dwell. No amount of darkness can take away this unchanging and eternal love.
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