DES MOINES, Iowa — In situations like this where two Des Moines metro police officers were killed, often time people can be left feeling helpless. But there is always something that you can do and there are folks in the community who are doing what they can to help heal hurting hearts and show the police how much support they have.
“That`s one of the biggest things I’ve heard today, like, ‘God what`s your plan for this like why does this stuff happen?’” said Nick Reed, Pastor at Creekside Church in Urbandale.
While Pastor Reed doesn’t have the answers to those questions, what he does have is a heart to want to be with people who are hurting during this painful time. That’s why he opened up the doors of his church, for people to come by and talk, pray, or just sit in silence.
“I woke up and I heard about this, this morning and you go through all sorts of emotions and so it`s kind of like I want to help in bigger ways than I actually can really. It gets kind of frustrating for people and so we thought we just need to be with people,” said Pastor Reed.
The Pastor says good can come from evil.
“It’s sad that through tragedy it can bring us together like this but at the same time it`s pretty awesome to see a community come together like this,” said Pastor Reed.
That show of unity, support and solidarity with the police can be seen throughout the community in signs and blue ribbons.
“They deserve the praise and attention and thankfulness because we`re so thankful for what they do every day,” said Kathleen Riessen of Farrell’s.
Riessen, a local business owner, is on a mission to help lead that community wide show of support, in part by giving away blue ribbons.
“I really wanted a way to just show the police that this isn`t our community, this is isn`t representative of our community and we are better than that,” she said.
The goal is to blanket the community with blue.
“Just to show your support, whether that`s blue ribbons that you can pick up here at the gyms, whether that`s a sign, blue lights, whatever you can do to just support the police and let them know right now that there`s a whole community standing behind them,” she said.
You can pick up those blue ribbons at any of the Farrell’s locations in Beaverdale, Urbandale, Waukee and West Des Moines.