Newtown Asks for Privacy, Kindness on 1-Year Mark

Newtown officials asked for privacy and joined victims’ families Monday in calling for people to mark the upcoming anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting by performing acts of kindness or volunteering with charities.

They also urged people thinking of the victims to find ways to give back to their own communities.

“In this way, we hope that some small measure of good may be returned to the world,” said JoAnn Bacon, whose 6-year-old daughter, Charlotte, was among the 20 students and six educators shot to death in the school on Dec. 14, 2012. She was reading from a statement released by the families of all 26 victims.

The town has no formal events planned for Saturday, and officials have discouraged the news media from coming to Newtown.

“We are trying to respect the world’s interest in us, but we also have a real need in our community to gain a foothold,” First Selectman Pat Llodra said.

This article appeared in print on page 2 of the December 10th, 2013 edition of Hamodia.