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Paper cranes from Colorado bring messages of hope to mass shooting survivors

It all started after survivors and family members of the Aurora theater tragedy received 1,000 paper cranes from a community in Missouri.

AURORA, Colo. — Loving messages of comfort and hope helped Heather Dearman cope after the 2012 Aurora theater shooting. Now she's helping to do the same for families and survivors of mass shootings in Texas, New York and California.

"This one says, 'Care and blessings,'" Dearman said as she read a message written on an origami crane. 

Inspired by a boy from Missouri who reached out during her time of pain, Dearman has been collecting paper crane messages to send to others experiencing similar tragedies since 2018. She's the CEO of the nonprofit 7/20 Foundation, which aims to honor those killed in the 2012 Aurora theater shooting and support survivors.

"He sent us 1,000 paper cranes and on each crane was a message that he collected from his community," she said. “We help people fold the paper crane and write a message on it and then we pin it onto a wreath and whenever there’s another tragedy we send that wreath to that community.”

Last summer, a paper crane peace box was added to the 7/20 Memorial Gardens. It's a place where people can learn how to fold a crane and write a message to someone in need of comfort during a tragedy. 

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"It’s a spin on the 'Little Lending Library,' and not only does it have books in it but it has a stand around that carved in wood is the instructions on how to fold a crane and there’s origami paper in there and pens. So people can come to this garden and sit over there and fold a crane and leave it in the paper crane peace box," Dearman said. "As we added this paper crane peace box, that was actually built by a Columbine survivor, and he was telling me how much it healed him to build this box."

Heather comes to the 7/20 Memorial Gardens to remember her second cousin, 6-year-old Veronica Moser, who was killed in 2012, and reflect on other tragedies happening across the nation.

"It's hard to say out loud and recognize that I come to this garden the most when a tragedy happens. It’s also very healing and comforting to know that I have this space here because the reason I come here when a tragedy happens is because I do find comfort and hope, and I’m surrounded by all of the notes from our community that they gave to support us way back then," she said. "Over time you learn about things like that and you remember and it means so much to you." 

Today she's collecting cranes that will make their way to comfort those experiencing tragedy in Laguna Woods, California; Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo, New York.

"It’s just that whole thing about helping one another and giving back, that is so healing," Dearman said. "As months go on, people are forgotten about, and when that community receives that wreath then that time they'll remember that they're not forgotten."

If you'd like to fold a paper crane message for survivors in Texas, California or New York, you can do so inside the Aurora History Museum or at the paper crane peace box inside the 7/20 Memorial Gardens.

You can also mail paper cranes to the address below:

7/20 Memorial Foundation
15151 E. Alameda Pkwy
Aurora, CO 80012

The 7/20 Foundation is also organizing a community event on July 23 called Metamorphosis: Aurora Theater 10 Years Later. It will be "a tribute to our post traumatic growth and the striking alterations in character and circumstance that those affected by tragedy experience."

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