Large number of volunteers help in Orlando shooting aftermath

Katie Marzullo Image
ByKatie Marzullo KGO logo
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Large number of volunteers help in Orlando shooting aftermath
A senior center near the hospital is where families of Orlando shooting victims are gathering, Chaplain Patricia Diaz came to offer counsel.

ORLANDO, Fla. (KGO) -- A senior center near the hospital is where families of Orlando shooting victims are gathering, Chaplain Patricia Diaz came to offer counsel.

"They're here to find their loved ones because they never came back home again," said diaz. "I would say, you're not alone."

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Diaz was asked to leave her name and number. She hopes she'll get the call to help.

Sandra Thornton also came to volunteer.

"I jumped in the car, gassed up and got here as soon as I could," said Thornton.

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She drove over five hours from Panama City, with her dog, hoping they could both comfort the victims' families. She's an Air Force veteran.

"You know, I volunteered for both deployments because the whole goal was to try to stop terrorism from happening again here," said Thornton.

Orlando is shaken to its core, but kindness is around every corner.

People are writing messages on colored paper, creating a rainbow chain of support for victims at the hospital.

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Angel Mendez, standing outside the Orlando Regional Medical Center, holds up a cell phone photo trying to get information about his brother Jean C. Mendez.
AP

"We want those families to feel that we want the victims, who are fighting for their lives, to be ok and pray that they will," said Chris Ogden, with the First Baptists Church Orlando.

"We have to be together. We have to be the good that is bigger than the bad," said Pat Farris.

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Mourners gather at memorial in the Castro District in San Francisco, Monday, June 13, 2016.
KGO-TV

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A GoFundMe account has been set up for the victims and families of the mass shooting in Orlando, click here for more information.

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