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The names and faces of over 100 victims lost to the opioid epidemic — some as young as 3 years old — were etched onto purple-painted rocks as part of a new touching tribute on Long Island.
Grieving parents and organizers placed the colorful stones one by one underneath the angel tree in a ceremony at the Suffolk County Environmental Center in Islip — reading each name aloud while the event was streamed live on Facebook.
“Seeing someone’s face and name on the purple rock — it might seem like a little meaningless thing to some people,” Carole Trottere, an activist and founder of the The Purple Rock Project, told The Post.
“But if you’ve lost a child, to think that someone is saying their name, is seeing their face, and is not forgetting them — it really does bring comfort,” Trottere, whose son Alex died of fentanyl poisoning in 2018, said of the event.
The event honored victims from more than 30 states, ranging in age from 3 to 50.
“They’re not just rocks and pictures — they’re people — and they mean so much to us,” said Paulette Phillippe, who planted the angel tree in 2021 after her grandson Gabriel, 15, died.
Phillippe, who runs the nonprofit Gabriel’s Giving Tree, said Trottere reached out to her earlier this year after learning about the memorial tree and asked if it could be used as the home for a Purple Rock Project.
“The tree represents burying some of our pain, putting into purpose, and watching new life grow from it each year,” Phillippe said, touching the leaves and branches of the tree. “It means adding new life.
“This tree, it’s growing each year, blossoming and getting taller while nurturing us because it’s the cycle of life and love.”
An outpouring of dozens of emotional messages came flooding in after the Facebook event, with mourning family members thanking the group for their advocacy.
“Thank you all from the bottom of my heart,” Nikki Correia told the group.
English (US)