The Newtown Connecticut Shooting Leaves the Nation Asking Questions

Vigil in front of the Whitehouse for Newtown, Connecticut shooting victims — image courtesy of huffingtonpost.com

The shooting this morning at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, has left a deep mark on our nation’s consciousness. In line with the string of such random outbreaks of senseless violence this summer, the Newton, Connecticut shooting will perhaps stand out in the, so far, absolutely inexplicable nature of the attack, and the extraordinarily young age of the victims. Here at SevenPonds our hearts go out to the dead, the wounded, and the survivors, family members and community members grieving and traumatized over the Connecticut shooting victims.

Perhaps there will be solidarity, a silver lining of soul searching in the days to come. Trappists Caskets, a business wholly owned by the self-sufficient monks of New Melleray Abbey outside of Dubuque, Iowa, and one of SevenPonds’ sponsors, has launched a campaign. Via an outreach from one of its customers they intend to raise $16,000 to supply caskets for burial of the victims. “We see the ministry as a way to help heal a senseless tragedy,” says Sam Mulgrew of Trappist Caskets, who oversees the making of the sustainable wood caskets. In the days to come, we hope that there will be more efforts like this.

Donate to the Connecticut shooting victims! To donate visit the Trappist Casket “Child Casket Fund” page.

For more information on the New Melleray Abbey monks’ relief effort, contact Trappists Caskets by phone: (563) 585-0793 

• Read about Trappist Caskets a unique business, producing simple, elegant, ecologically minded caskets from company headquarters in Peosta, Iowa — which happens to be New Melleray Abbey, home of Catholic monks known as Cistercians. Read a past blog post here.