A year after congressional aide Gabe Zimmerman was killed in a mass shooting outside a 蜜柚直播 grocery store, his family worked to pay tribute to him with a day of 36 health and outdoors events.
Five others were killed and 13 were wounded in the Jan. 8, 2011, mass shooting at a 鈥淐ongress On Your Corner鈥 event held by then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
Now years later, the Beyond 蜜柚直播 Foundation, with its sponsors 蜜柚直播 Medical Center and Run 蜜柚直播, continues to hold its annual commemorative events, with this year鈥檚 happening on Saturday, Jan. 11.
鈥淎fter the tragedy happened, there was this huge gaping hole,鈥 Beyond鈥檚 executive director Michelle Crow says. 鈥淓veryone was coming together and being with one another, wanting to support everyone.
鈥淎s the anniversary approached, they wanted to do something to try to continue that sense of community cohesion,鈥 she says.
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She says there was an 鈥渋nteresting coalition of groups鈥 that emerged, from local nonprofits, land managers, health providers and 鈥済roups of people who had never really worked together in the traditional sense.鈥
From there, Beyond was born. Five years after launching the annual festival, the organization became an official nonprofit and now provides year-round events and challenges for the community.
For Saturday鈥檚 commemorative festival, Beyond is hosting 17 individual events around Pima County.
鈥淣o matter where you live, there鈥檚 a Beyond event near you,鈥 Crow says.
Among the 17 free events is a chance to discover petroglyphs in the Tortolitas, a kindness cook-off at Valley of the Moon, a walk with local physicians at Rillito River Park, a 鈥渃ore fitness sampler鈥 including strength training and yoga at La Encantada, a hike in Vail and a chance to learn about gardening at Mission Garden.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a day we set aside to spend time with our loved ones and make positive decisions about what we want the year ahead to be about,鈥 Crow says.
Visit to see a full list of events.