AUBURN, Maine — Families and friends of the Lewiston shooting victims gathered at the Auburn Mall Saturday for a private get-together—unveiling sketches of their loved ones made by an Ohio-based artist.
"I've always been an artist... I got into high school and got more involved with it, took art classes," Ron Moore Jr. of Cleveland, Ohio, who has been sketching for decades, said.
After a Parkinson's disease diagnosis, Moore had a moment of realization to use his work to help uplift others, after dealing with suicidal thoughts himself around 10 years ago. Ever since, he has been creating portraits of the lives lost in mass tragedies nationwide, including after the Lewiston shooting in October.
"Most people think it's a simple sketch, but for me, I'm giving them a piece of my heart," Moore said. "I don't want to just do a picture, I want to try and capture something about that person."
Hosted by Nutty Netties Cafe, Moore met with the friends and family of the 18 lives lost to hand-deliver portraits.
"Ron had reached out and said, you know, 'I wanna help these families. Can you help me?'" owner Aaron Buccheri, who helped host the event, said. "It's very personal, it's very real and there's really no words to describe... but this seems like a beacon of healing."
Buccheri also helped to host a meet and greet with Moore on Friday with the general public.
"My heart weeps for what these people have endured," Moore said. "With a tragedy like this, I think this little bit of love can outshine that darkness."
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