Meet the couple maintaining the Monterey Park memorial
When a community is mourning, Noah Reich and David Maldonado of Classroom of Compassion show up.
MONTEREY PARK (KABC) -- Noah Reich and David Maldonado, co-founders of the non-profit Classroom of Compassion, have maintained the memorial at Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park for more than a week.
"We travel the country holding space for those lost to mass gun violence. And we just so happen to find ourselves here in our hometown Los Angeles," said Maldonado.
When a community is mourning, they show up.
Two days after the shooting in Monterey Park, the couple started setting up altars for the 11 victims.
"Not all the photos were released at first. So, this is the first time where we had an altar dedicated to each of the people and slowly updated throughout the week as photos were released to the public," said Maldonado.
The first on-site memorial they created was in Thousand Oaks after the shooting at Borderline Bar and Grill.
"We try and kind of allow the community to have access to any of the materials they may need on-site from flowers to leaving dedication cards, to incense, to chalk, said Reich.
As the couple transitions this memorial over to the community, they will also create 11 small altars to donate to the victims' families.
