On Tuesday Oct. 7 Howell High School’s choir sang at the Candlelight Vigil event in support of people who have gone through domestic abuse, as well as raising awareness for this issue.

The schedule for the event was as follows. At 6:55 p.m. the choir sang and then walked up to the the hill. At 7:00 p.m. the choir sang the national anthem. From there on out different people were introduced and shared their stories. These people included Angela DelVero from the Livingston County Prosecutor’s Office, survivors Mike and Terri, Bobette Schrandt from LACASA, the pastor from TBD, and the choir teacher Mr. Bushey. At 7:30 p.m. the choir sang the song, “ Peace, Peace”.

“This is a very important night,” Choir teacher Rob Bushey says, “it’s the least we could do to help promote LACASA and raise awareness for domestic abuse. We do it every year. We as high school students and members should support this cause and do whatever we can as a school, as students and staff.”

As it is a yearly event, many people showed up to the event to hear the choir’s beautiful voices and hear the stories told by survivors and members of the community who have had experiences of domestic abuse in their lives.

“I think it went really well. A lot of people showed up and it definitely went smoothly and I definitely think we raised awareness for domestic abuse. I personally think we have the best program in Michigan,” sophomore Howell High School choir student Josh Bender says.

Every year almost 7 million men and women are victims of domestic abuse and every year more than 3 million children bear witness to these events. A lot of of these incidents go unreported. So the choir hopes to raise awareness so more of these events get noticed and get reported, so these people can get the support they need.

“ I think it was amazing. It was very touching and enlightening and really gave me a new perspective on domestic abuse. And personally I think awareness does need to be raised, most people would not know what to do if this happened to them or someone they knew and I am very excited for this event as there is a lot of pretty music and very good causes,” choir student Marie Garcelon says.