Sean Peacock mentioned he was first contacted by the mom of 10-year-old Makenna Lee Elrod and requested if he may “customize a bench for the loss of a child.”
EASTMAN, Ga. — A self-proclaimed ‘Average Joe’ from a small city in Georgia is now eternally related to the group of Uvalde via a labor a love, which was impressed by the loss of his sister.
Sean Peacock lives in Eastman, which is a tightly knit group of underneath 5,000 in rural Georgia. He instructed us he when he first realized concerning the shooting in Uvalde on May 24, he turned off the media and purposely did not attempt to learn something about it, as a result of of the actually terrible nature of what had occurred. That would change in a matter of days for Sean. You see, Sean is a craftsman who builds picket benches as tributes to family members misplaced.
The first bench he crafted was in reminiscence of his sister Donna, an RN who beloved to do yardwork and had died unexpectedly at an early age. He made the bench as a present for his momma, a pure labor of love for him.
On May 31, Sean received a message via the Etsy store to his business, Jass Graphix, Inc., inquiring if he could make a custom butterfly bench for the loss of a 10-year-old child named Makenna, and could they get a discount if two were ordered? Sean said his gut told him that this child had to be connected to the tragedy in Uvalde, so he searched the name Makenna and Uvalde. The list of victims that popped up had her name at the very top of the list. For Sean, that was a sign that he needed to make the bench. He said the news had him “discombobulated.” He immediately reached out to the mom and replied that he would make the bench and give a discount as well.
But then he didn’t hear back from the mom for a few days, and when he did, the response was equally heartbreaking. “Hello, I’m sorry for just now getting back to you, I’ve been attending funerals. My daughter’s is this Saturday,” said the mom.
Sean, a father of children ranging in age from two to 29, said he had a tough time wrapping his brain around that information. How could he make a bench for just this one mom, when there were 20 more who were also grieving the loss of their child or loved one at way too young of an age?
The answer was simple. Sean decided to handcraft benches for all of them. He knew he needed help with the costs, so he created a gofundme to boost the cash wanted for provides and supply bills.Â
“Hello, my identify is Sean Peacock positioned in Eastman Georgia and in addition the proprietor of JassGraphix Inc,” mentioned the gofundme itemizing. “The latest tragedy of the Robb Elementary School shooting has resulted in one of the mother and father that misplaced a toddler in that horrific occasion reaching out to us by way of our Etsy shop wanting to purchase two Butterfly memorial benches that we produce here at JassGraphix. She was asking for a discount if she ordered two but I think every child there deserves to be remembered and we as a community can shine a light on a dark time in the lives of many, not only there, but across our country. We have to let the good flow so the evil can go.”
The response was overwhelming. He had set a goal of $20,000 and within the first two days, the goal had been reached… and then some.Â
Sean said he wasn’t surprised by the response, because he knew that his community would rally, but he was astonished by how quickly the money poured in. He said that what happened in Uvalde “was an act of pure evil” and what happened in his tiny town of Eastman was the exact opposite, “an act of pure love.”
“I hope and pray that Eastman and Dodge County can be a light to this community half way across the country,” said Sean. “They surely need it.”Â
Sean has been posting the completed benches daily on his Facebook page and sharing their tales.
View all of the benches right here:
Georgia man handcrafts 21 benches for Uvalde victims
The group of Eastman is holding Eastman Day of Prayer for Uvalde / Bench Mission on Saturday, July 30 at 6 p.m., so members of the group can bless the benches earlier than they depart to Uvalde.
After the benches arrived in Uvalde, residents met for a community-wide prayer service. Peacock will ship the benches privately in the approaching days.
“There’s so much more to this story than just the benches,” mentioned Sean. “Hand-made prayer pillows donated by Sailor Kate Ministries can even be given to every household, in addition to the bench crafted with a photograph and inscription.”
Sean mentioned this entire expertise has been nothing brief of divine intervention.Â
“God works in mysterious ways, and I have been blessed to be able to connect to each of the families impacted by this horrible tragedy,” mentioned Sean. “We will forever be connected.”
story by The Texas Tribune Source link