Community mourns Half Moon Bay victims at interfaith service, makeshift memorial
HALF MOON BAY -- Shocked and saddened members of the Half Moon Bay community paid their respects Tuesday evening to the victims of Monday's mass shooting, with many calling attention to farmworkers, a group they say is often marginalized and overlooked.
Through song and prayer, the coastal community tried to heal at Coastside Lutheran Church Tuesday evening. Ellen Hage from Pacifica came to mourn the seven people who were killed. The interfaith service moved her to tears.
"It just breaks your heart when you know once again, now it's come home, the gun violence, to our own community, and the most vulnerable amongst us, the farmworkers, who are actually invisible," said Hage. "They go day to day taking the best care of their families, working hard, not being appreciated, being mistreated often."
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Hage is part of the community organizing network Faith in Action. She said seeing people from all religions come together gave her strength.
"It's a powerful experience, and I'm a spiritual person. I believe in the power of community and love, and working together we can move mountains if we want to," she said.
The group chanted "Because we care," a message to speak up and step in to help when the community needs it.
"I think that was very touching, and I hope that we can continue to care," said attendee Carolyn Jaramillo of Pacifica.
People moved by tragedy also stopped by this makeshift memorial in downtown Half Moon Bay to honor the victims.
Vice Mayor Joaquin Jimenez, also the farmworker program director for the nonprofit ALAS, said he's familiar with the formerly-named Mountain Mushroom Farm, now run by California Terra Garden. He estimates there were about 30 workers on site at the time of the shooting. Several live in mobile homes on the property.
"They're not big mobile homes. We have a group of five, six family members staying there, and they have outside bathrooms, port-o-potties, and as we heard from two of the people that were there at the farm that's where they hid," said Jimenez.
He hopes that visitors who often come for the town's famous pumpkin or Christmas tree farms also remember the community's heritage and farmworkers.
"You know we all get so busy with our own lives and we're in little silos, and we can't remain in a silo because we are, this is what happens," said Hage. "If we're all in this together, taking care of one another, then things could change."