After seeing a pair of swastikas etched at Pavion Park last month – one on a tree, another on a wall – Jenna Gerstner was unsure what to tell her two sons.
“I contemplated how to tell my children about racism,” she said as she shared her story in front of hundreds gathered at the park Monday night.
She reached out to Rabbi Rachel Kort at Temple Beth El in Aliso Viejo, who coordinated with leaders of the Orange County Islamic Foundation mosque and Shepherd of the Hills United Methodist Church in Rancho Santa Margarita. The result of the collaboration was “A Place for Every Family,” a multifaith gathering to show children to respond to hate with love and inclusion.
Leaders of the three religious organizations stood together Monday afternoon as a symbol of unity.
Mission Viejo city leaders, Orange County Sheriff’s Department officials, representatives of Rep. Mimi Walters and state Sen. Patricia Bates, and Rabbi Peter Levi, the Anti-Defamation League’s regional director in Orange County, also were in attendance.
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