FORDYCE, Ark. — On Saturday, the Fordyce community held its first Fordyce Strong annual benefit softball tournament to help raise money for victims and survivors of last month's mass shooting at the Mad Butcher grocery store.
As the one-month mark of the tragedy approaches, tournament directors like Cassidy Kelly decided to focus on the positive by hosting softball games to give the people of Fordyce a reason to smile.
"The softball community has always been a community that has stuck together and supported one another," Kelly said. "Whether it was something good [or] something bad... it was a no-brainer to go ahead and throw a tournament because we know the amount of support we'd get."
For Kelly, it's all about new beginnings for the Fordyce community as they share memories of laughter, good food, and, most importantly, a competitive game of softball with a deeper meaning.
"It is to raise money for the victims' families and the survivors to cover their medical expenses [and] gas going back and forth to the doctor," Kelly said. "100% of any money on this field today will go to those families."
Fordyce Mayor John MacNichol spoke at the tournament.
"We've gotten past the part of the shooting," MacNichol said. "We're trying to focus more on the healing process."
Saturday's tournament didn't just involve the Fordyce community.
Neighboring counties joined to show support, like DeCarlow Collins of Bearden, who said it was also an opportunity to connect with strangers of all different ethics and backgrounds who were playing something they had in common.
"That's the big thing: you need something like this to bring a community together," Collins said. "Whether it's a softball tournament or a concert or just any type of event that talks about the community and putting love around the people and the victims involved. We want to be able to make sure that we show them love beyond just that one day."
Kelly said they've raised over $20,000 so far and plan to raise even more throughout the night as people continue to make donations and play.
"Our goal is to show the community you don't have to live in fear... show that we can come out, we can support each other, we can have fun," Kelly said. "Show support to those who are lost; some were friends, some were strangers, but this way, you can show it to everybody."