After a school shooting, you hear about some of the acts of kindness, no matter where you live.
You hear about the donations for victims, the prayer vigils, the blood drives. You hear about celebrities paying funeral costs.
But unless you live near the school, you miss some of the most hopeful moments.
If I didn’t live near Abundant Life Christian School in Wisconsin, I wouldn’t have heard about the hamburger buns.
Wisconsin school shooting
Abundant Life Christian School is located about 10 miles from my Madison suburb. I drive by it when I go to the airport or pick up dinner from Chick-fil-A.
When a school shooter targeted students and teachers at Abundant Life on Dec. 16, killing two, I followed the news closely, not just because I live in the area, but because following breaking news is part of my job.
I wrote the Deseret News’ first story on the shooting, highlighting other recent attacks on religious schools. I updated it multiple times in the first 24 hours, adding details about the victims, the police response and President Joe Biden’s message on gun control.
All the while, I followed the local response, including the dozens of worried messages from parents in a Facebook group for my town.
I got an email from my son’s school district outlining security measures. I got an email from our day care about the importance of closing and locking doors.
Culver’s fundraiser
After working in journalism for 10 years, I was used to helping with school shooting coverage. But it was new to be confronted so directly with the surrounding community’s fear — and to feel it myself.
It was also new to see what happens once the initial wave of national news reports stops. What happened here was a statewide Culver’s fundraiser for Abundant Life — which brings me back to the hamburger buns.
On Monday, the Culver’s in my town and more than 70 other Culver’s locations in Wisconsin were swarmed with customers ordering butterburgers, cheese curds and custard. They wanted the tasty food, yes, but they also wanted to contribute to the pool of profits that would be shared with Abundant Life Christian School.
By 4:30 p.m. local time, the drive-thru line at my Culver’s stretched out of the parking lot and down the road. By 6 p.m., it had clogged up the nearby roundabout.
Customers waited in that line for up to 90 minutes, according to Facebook posts. They kept waiting even after the restaurant ran out of hamburger buns.
The people in my town didn’t just accept the bun shortage. They celebrated it, thanking one another for buying so much.
Monday night, after my kids were in bed, I sat on my couch eating Culver’s chocolate custard and felt grateful. I was safe, my family was safe, and I would never forget the kind of love that had poured out.