Hundreds Come Out to Support Vang Family!

Guest post and photos by the Hawthorne Hawkman

Saturday was an especially emotional day for many northsiders. After the tragic accident that impacted the lives of the Vang family forever, NoMi community members came together to show our support. The Camden Lions put on a pancake breakfast at Papa's Pizza and Deli, and the community came out in droves.

Word was that almost from the moment the doors opened, the place was packed to the brim. Long lines abounded as residents waited patiently for a table. The Lions, whose motto, "We Serve," is lovely in its straightforward dedication, lived up to that motto yesterday. I watched as they hustled and bustled tirelessly to keep up with the steady flow of northsiders gathering to stand with the Vang family in solidarity.

Pictured above we have...

The owner of Papa's Pizza greeting the Vang family as they entered. Next, one of the Lions is enjoying the hearty breakfast provided; pancakes, sausage, coffee, and juice.

Notably, Channel 5 was there too. At the time that I was present, they were the only mainstream media source that was covering this event. This is notable because Channel 5/KSTP has done, in this blog's opinion, much unfairly slanted reporting in NoMi. So we thank them deeply for coming out and covering a story that shows the true character of our neighborhood. One of the ways that this blog expressed our thanks was to not rush a "JNS Exclusive" before anyone else could report. John and I agreed to let Channel 5 have the story for a day first instead of getting this up before anyone else.

Here is a link to the Channel 5 video of the event. The Loring School, where four of the five Vang children attend, has several links to this story as well.

The last two photos show the Camden Lions banner at Papa's Pizza, and the fundraising goal at the time that I left. The attendees were a veritable list of who's who in NoMi, and many of those people were busy serving - clearly they were there to help and not to be seen. I don't have exact totals, but I left about halfway through the event and the Lions were already well past the halfway point for their goal. If you still wish to donate to the Vang family or to the Camden Lions, go to their website and contact them.

We give a heartfelt thanks to all who made this event a tremendous success, and we especially thank those who put it on. This is what NoMi is all about.