Orange County hands off Comfort Quilt to Las Vegas community

From San Bernardino, to Orlando, to Las Vegas

From the Orange County Media Relations Department

In the United States, mass shootings are far too common an event. In 2017, there have already been 283. And from that depressing, epidemic statistic has come a tradition - The Comfort Quilt.

Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs, along with the Orange County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) will gather to honor the lives lost during the Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival on the Las Vegas Strip on Oct. 1. Mayor Jacobs and the BCC will then formally transfer ownership of the Comfort Quilt to the Las Vegas community. In addition, the Las Vegas Memorial Banner (originally available for the community to sign at the Pulse Town Hall meeting on Oct. 10) will be available for residents to sign; the Banner will accompany the Quilt when it is shipped to Las Vegas Mayor Goodman later this week.

The Comfort Quilt was given to Orange County in the wake of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in 2016. At the time, the tragedy was considered the largest mass shooting in modern U.S History. The quilt was a gift from the community of San Bernardino, California, where 14 people had been killed in a mass shooting on Dec. 2, 2015.

The quilt was originally created by first-graders from St. Hilary Catholic School in Fairlawn, Ohio in 2001, to comfort children at St. James Catholic School in New Jersey who had lost parents and loved loves in the September 11th, 2001 attacks. Since then it has traveled to communities across the United States that have experienced traumatic events.

About Orange County Government

Orange County Government strives to serve its citizens and guests with integrity, honesty, fairness, and professionalism. Located in Central Florida, Orange County includes 13 municipalities and is home to world famous theme parks, the nation’s second largest convention center, and a thriving life science research park. Seven elected members make up the Board of County Commissioners including the Mayor who is elected countywide. For more information please visit www.OCFL.net or go to the Orange CountyFacebook and Twitter pages.