He took time to connect with families, signing autographs for the kids and shaking hands with parents, looking them in the eyes to encourage them. Less than four months after their lives were violently disrupted by the mass shooting at Annunciation, many of the guests wore navy blue sweatshirts bearing the school’s logo and the words “Move Your Feet,” referencing the “When you pray, move your feet” motto they’ve adopted in response to tragedy. On the sleeves were two white hearts with the initials of 10-year-old Harper Moyski and 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel, who were killed in the shooting.
“I know you all have been through a lot,” C.J. told the group. “I can already tell the reason you are able to make it through is by leaning on your faith, and also community.”
As C.J. spoke, a mother sitting near the front of the room nodded in affirmation, her eyes welling with tears.
“The way you kids and the parents have interacted with each other just in this short amount of time, I can see there’s so much love,” he continued. “There’s so much compassion, and I love to see that. I’m honored to share this night with you all and have fun with you. Thank you for being here.”
Vikings Director of Community Relations Logan Johnson and C.J. both emphasized the desire to honor the Annunciation community in whatever way possible.
“We know nothing the Vikings or anybody else does can change anything these families have had to go through,” Johnson said. “But if we can do something as simple as providing them with a new memory for tonight, that’s really important to us.
“We will have more touchpoints with them moving forward, because we understand how important it is for them to continue to create those new memories,” Johnson noted. “That’s something that we’re going to take very seriously as an organization.”