>> Fundraiser launched for children of Dayton shooting victim Lois Oglesby
The kids will be at the South Park gazebo near the intersections of Park Drive and Wayne Avenue until 2 p.m. today. Money raised will go to the families of two of the victims.
Brennan Bailey, a fourth-grader at River’s Edge Montessori School, grabbed a Costco box his mother had lying around after she explained to him what took place just a few blocks away from their South Park home. Brennan wanted to make a lemonade stand to “just do something to help them.”
Brennan and his two best friends helping to organize the fundraiser, Marc Carter and Logan Huggins, all attend River's Edge Montessori School in Dayton with the children of shooting victims Monica Storey Brickhouse and Lois Oglesby.
“Trying to explain to your children, first what happened, and then explaining their classmates’ moms lost their lives. ... For a 9-year-old to wrap their brain around that. He’s quite sensitive and wanted to help them,” said Angela Bailey, Brennan’s mother.
Bailey said South Park neighbors immediately jumped in to see how they could help when she posted to Facebook what her son and his friends wanted to do. Neighbors reached out offering to bring cookies and other supplies to pitch in on Saturday.
“This whole thing is breaking my heart,” Eileen Clooney, a South Park resident helping the lemonade stand, wrote in a message.
>> New details emerge about Dayton shooting victims
After learning how his idea had grown into a full-blown neighborhood event, Brennan was a little overwhelmed, but excited, by the response.
“He’s somewhat introverted so his eyes just keep getting big and he’s like, ‘Oh mommy, I don’t know if I can do this.’ And I’m like, ‘You can. Your heart is big enough,’” Bailey said.
Brickhouse and Oglesby were among nine people killed when a gunman sprayed bullets in the Oregon District just after 1 a.m. Sunday.
>> The Victims: Springfield native Monica Brickhouse remembered by friend after shooting
At least 27 others were injured during the shooting.
The gunman was shot and killed by police in less than 30 seconds.
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