Fundraiser To Help Ammon Murder Victims’ Family Raise Awareness
When the estranged boyfriend of an Ammon woman murdered her, her sister and two children in an Ammon home in May, it seemed like the unthinkable had happened in our community.
To keep the memory alive of those killed, several organizations in the community are working together to help the family move on and the community prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again.
Every week in the summer, the Idaho Falls Civitan Club puts on the Alive After Five Celebration raising money for a different cause each week.
“It?s one of the best fundraisers I have ever been involved with,? president of the club Teena McBride said.
This week, it will help the parents of Michelle and Malinda Kern, who were murdered in their Ammon home in May.
After losing their only two children and only two grandchildren in the Idaho Falls home the family shared, Mike and Bobby Kern say they just can’t move back in.
The money will help Mike and Bobby Kern find a new home away from the memories of that tragic day.
While they did not go on camera, they still want to share their story.
“Their main goal in participating in this effort is to tell people you can recognize the signs that lead up to such an event and hopefully prevent another family from every experiencing the tragedy in which they endured and they will live with for the rest of their lives,” Summerfest organizer Theron McGriff said.
McGriff said it’s a sad story he never wants to see in our community again.
“No person should go to bed at night afraid,? he said. ?In learning more about Mike and Bobby’s daughters, their daughters went to bed the night they died. They went to bed afraid for their lives and that?s Mike and Bobby’s whole point. We don’t want to see another person go to sleep at night afraid for their life.”
It doesn’t end with Alive After Five. The fundraiser will continue at Sept. 10’s Summerfest put on by the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Center and Breaking Boundaries.
“Summerfest will be an annual event dedicated to raise awareness of domestic violence,? McGriff said. ?It’s real; it happens in our community. It’s also dedicated to the memory of Michelle, Malinda, Jake and Gage, hopefully keeping their memory alive so they did not die in vain.”
Alive After Five is held on Wednesdays at the Civitan Plaza on the corner of Park Avenue and B Street in downtown Idaho Falls.
