JACKSON — Over time in Jackson, many residents have learned the names of teenagers and young adults who lost their lives in tragic fashion.
And while those sons and daughters, siblings and students each left their mark on a community that had to cope with sudden tragedy, one resident is teaming up with the Where Angels Play Foundation to create a tranquil outdoor space called the Garden of Hope.
The focus of the project, according to founder William Valentine, was a desire to remind people of happy times, rather than the loss of life.
“We don’t want to mourn or focus on how they passed,” Valentine said. “Let’s just celebrate their lives.”
Valentine, who is a retired firefighter from northern New Jersey, has spent more than a decade working with the nonprofit Garden of Hope helping to construct playgrounds in communities on the east coast that have dealt with a significant loss.
But it was not until his daughter, Christina, 21, lost her battle with depression in August 2014 that the thought of creating a special area for Jackson residents came to the forefront.
“When I was around all the parents and family members who lost kids in Newtown (Conn.), I remember asking myself, ‘How do they wake up in the morning?’ ‘How do they function?’ and then 18 months later, I’m in the same club they are,” Valentine said.
He was left with a deep sense of loss and said he realized his daughter’s friends had very few places to go to remember Christina. Instead, they would talk to him or just sit in her bedroom.
Valentine said he began thinking about other young people who had died and their family members and friends.
“[I thought,] maybe there can be a place where kids feeling a little down and out that want to remember their friends can go out … to a nice, solemn, tranquil spot to remember their friends,” he said.
He teamed up with the Where Angels Play Foundation for financial backing and sought approval from Mayor Michael Reina. The Garden of Hope will be created in a 3-acre section of Johnson Park and groundbreaking was scheduled this month.
Although the foundation primarily constructs playgrounds, the Garden of Hope was never considered to become a place to play, according to Valentine.
“A playground really wasn’t appropriate here, so we decided to do a garden,” he said. “We did not want to go with a memorial garden because it has a negative connotation.”
The Garden of Hope will feature a walkway that winds through a landscaped area featuring local and low maintenance plants and shrubbery. The names of Jackson residents who died at a young age will be listed at one location in the garden.
To submit information about an individual who died at an early age or to volunteer to assist with the project, email [email protected]. A tax deductible donation may be made by visiting sandygroundproject.org