Despite the wet weather, more than 50 people turned up for a collective awareness walk from NVSS to Riverside Park on Saturday evening.
Those who attended walked from the high school to Riverside Park where awareness T-shirts were sold, a suggestion box for awareness was made available and a donation box for the search fund was put out – “whether it be for Maddy or someone else – whoever needs the fund,” said the organizer of the event Doug Leslie.
Leslie organized the event as the president of the Loren Donn Leslie Foundation.
The walk marks the first event since he organized the foundation six months ago. He has been putting the organization together since his teenage daughter Loren Donn Leslie was found murdered late last year off Highway 27.
Leslie says he was planning on having the event further into the future, but he put it forward as a result of missing local girl Madison Scott.
“Well I was going to put this walk off till later but … I wanted to get this done and a little bit of awareness out there before the summer holiday’s because these kids are going to be out doing whatever they’re going to be doing,” said Leslie.
“Our whole foundation is on awareness and people ask … awareness for what?
“It’s awareness for everything – awareness is the first step to safety and we have to be aware of the dangers out there,” said Leslie.
Once in Riverside Park, participants of the walk took shelter in the picnic table area where Leslie spoke about awareness and then a suggestion box and notebook were passed around for ideas on raising awareness.
Leslie hopes that next year the walk can be expanded to other towns.
