Tree of Life Synagogue Asking For Your Stories About Memorial Items

SQUIRREL HILL (KDKA) -- Tree of Life Congregation wants to hear your stories.

In the days, weeks, and months following a mass shooting that left eleven dead, objects were left at a makeshift memorial outside the synagogue.

Many of the items were left anonymously along the sidewalk at Wilkins and Shady Avenues in the days following the October 27th, 2018 attack.

Now, Tree of Life wants to hear from those who left such precious mementos.

Tree of Life is working with a researcher to find these stories.

Tree of Life, along with the researchers are interested in knowing why donors chose the items that they left, what their intent was with the messages delivered to victims families, and why they felt motivated to leave items more tangible than flowers.

Among the items left which little is known about -- a marathon medal, high-top sneakers, Wallenberg leaves, a guitar, camp chairs, sports items, signs, notes, stuffed animals, and a nurse's cross that was hand delivered on the November day that the memorial was dismantled.

This project is also looking to identify the violinist and church choir who performed briefly on the sidewalk sometime during the weeks following the shooting.

If you left something at the memorial, played an instrument or sang nearby, please share your story, so history records the full story.

To share the story of an object left among the flowers, a form is available to fill out to be able to provide your information.