The annual Lights of Hope tribute to those lost to cancer or still fighting the disease was held Sept. 11 in front of Miami Lakes Town Hall. Attorney Gloria Garcia is a district leader for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and organized the event. Garcia and others memorialized loved ones with battery-powered luminaria. The paper bags were inscribed with messages of love and remembrance. Garcia, was joined by Realtor Lynn Matos; the women volunteered together in past years on the Relay for Life of Miami Lakes event. This year because of the coronavirus pandemic, Lights of Hope tributes happened across the country rather than in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., where it was previously held. Garcia said she met on Zoom on Sept. 12 with U.S. Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Doral, Donna Shalala, D-Miami and Frederica Wilson, D-Miami Gardens, to discuss funding for cancer research.
Among the survivors gathered in tribute to their loved ones were Garcia, who remembered her sister Maria D. “Mayoyi” Garcia, a school counselor and town resident who died of breast cancer at age 38 in 2009, and Matos, a who remembered several friends lost to the disease.
Also attending was the Concepcion family, in honor of Alberto Concepcion, Sr. of Hialeah.
Photos courtesy of Gloria Garcia.