KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — One year ago, a little boy was shot and killed by his father in an apparent murder-suicide, according to police. His mother said that her husband suffered from severe mental illness and asked people to forgive him.
So, a movement was created to remember the young boy and the light he brought into people's lives. That movement, called Shine Day 2020, memorializes 8-year-old Clark Reagan. He was killed in Maryville and people came together across East Tennessee Wednesday to remember him.
The point of Shine Day is to shine light across the community. Some people helped out at The Martin Luther King Community Center for the movement, while others worked at Alcoa Middle School, among other places.
Many people posted tweets about the acts of service they were doing with the hashtag, "#ShineDay2020."
At the Martin Luther King Community Center, people raised more than $13,000 in Reagan's memory.
"Go out and do something to benefit your community," Micah Talley, Reagan's uncle, said on the GoFundMe page for the Martin Luther King Community Center. "And always remember to Be The Light!"
Many helped with the community center, and many more people helped out through acts of service across East Tennessee. People participated in Shine Day and became beacons of light in their community so that they could shine bright, all in Clark Reagan's memory.
Everyone who performed acts of kindness deserves today's Perfect 10, for keeping communities shining with hope no matter how tragic things can get.