The outpouring of support for Gabby Petito's family continues to grow in Suffolk County communities, including at a makeshift memorial for Gabby on Montauk Highway in Blue Point.
People drop by almost daily to add more tributes to Petito. It is just one of the many ways community members have been showing support.
A banner that reads "Gabby Forever in our Hearts" hangs over the Long Island Expressway in Holbrook. The Holbrook Chamber of Commerce and Friends came up with the idea they say to welcome those who came to pay their respects at her
memorial service last weekend.
"I was just watching the news on Thursday in the afternoon. I saw they were going to be in Holbrook. I saw the outpouring and support from Blue Point. They're our sister community," explains Brian Demurley, of Holbrook.
"We wanted to kind of put our arms around the family and just welcome them. I mean such a tragedy, this beautiful young lady we lost, we just wanted to make them feel comfortable," says Holbrook Chamber of Commerce President Rick Ammarati.
Many residents and business owners have shown tireless support for the 22-year-old's family.
"I know in the Bayport and Blue Point businesses, there's been many donations, there's been food sent, there's been so much done for this family and rightly so," says President Bayport-Blue Point Chamber of Commerce Carol Seitz-Cusack. "And when one hurts, we all hurt."
As
News 12 has reported, the Johnny Mac Foundation spearheaded the efforts in getting
teal ribbons hung throughout the community. A
GoFundMePage for Gabby Petito's family has currently raised nearly $100,000.
Meantime, Nora Ryan Garvey started "
Shine a Light," in which residents donated $20 for luminaries that were lit simultaneously across town last week.
"When we were handing out lanterns, we had completely run out because the support from the community was overwhelming," says The Gazette co-publisher Kate Berube. She says local businesses showed up at the 11th hour to ensure the tribute to Petito continued.
"Pizzerias in town showed up and gave us bags, Brinksmann's came down with sand to fill the bottom of the Lumineers and the Bayport Flower House donated flowers and it was just beautiful," Berube says.