Help Build a Permanent Memorial for Seal Beach Shooting Victims

Editor’s note: Seal Beach resident  John Fox entered the idea for a permanent memorial for the Salon Meritage shooting victims into a community grant contest by Pepsi. If enough people go online and vote for the memorial, Pepsi will give the community $50,000 to build whatever kind of memorial the community wants in whatever location the community chooses. The memorial just needs to be among the top 10 vote-getters to win the grant. Right now, Seal Beach is about 87 spots out of the running. The voting period ends Dec. 31. Fox thinks this could be a great way to fund the memorial straight from the hearts of the thousands of people touched by this tragedy. Will you help?"

So, What is our agenda for the Permanent Memorial for Seal Beach Shooting Victims?

In a nutshell.  Community outreach.

We are trying to build large scale community healing, help people talk about their feelings, gather input and feedback, while trying to earn free $50k with no strings attached from www.refresherverything.com/seal-beach-support-in-love.  (Vote early and Vote Often!)  If we can help people share whats going on in their heads, give everyone a sense of ownership of those thoughts, then all the little broken pieces that we are carrying around can start to make sense; and like a mosaic, all those little pieces will start to fit together and become something bigger, "sum of all the parts", kind-of-thing.  My hope is to be able to hand a check for $50k to the City of Seal Beach, and be able to say

"This is from 30,000 individuals who have been touched by this tragedy and they don't want recognition or a pat on the back, they just want to know that their votes went to help build a permanent, little piece of something in their hearts."

This is about truly allowing the democratic process to blossom for a small but important part of our civic lives.  We want to show that everyone can truly make a difference for something that will be a permanent reminder for Seal Beach and our community.  We know that no one person should fund this project and we know it shouldn't be just the City of Seal Beach's burden.  Giving a voice to everyone is what this is all about and not just the ones that show up at City Council Meetings or read the newspaper.  There are tons of young people, business people, parents and professionals out there that want to be heard, want to share their ideas and they are connected in many other ways within our commuity that don't match the typical civic protocols.  We want to bridge this gap and make sure they are ALL heard.

DAILY REMINDER!!  VOTE BY TEXTING "110851" to #737-74  Everyday in December.  Just as important as voting is, so is submitting your ideas and your feedback.  We need to hear from you!

Also don't forget to follow me on twitter @sealbchriverdog for daily reminders and updated about everything from contests to 360 degreee panoramas.