BY MEAGHAN MCGOLDRICK
With many families struggling
to obtain closure after
the loss of loved ones during
the COVID-19 pandemic, one
Sunset Park organization offered
over 100 members of the
Latin American immigrant
community the opportunity
to say their fi nal goodbyes at
a July 2 mass vigil at Green-
Wood Cemetery.
The remembrance was organized
by the Mixteca Organization
as a way to help
the Hispanic community,
which was disproportionately
Indika The same amazing doctors,
COURIER L 10 IFE, JULY 17-23, 2020
affected by the coronavirus
pandemic, grieve
together. Family members
lit candles, created a memorial
in remembrance of their
loved ones and said prayers
together to honor those who
have died from COVID-19.
Luis Reyes Tapia attended
the vigil with the ashes of his
friend — 29-year-old Claudio
Ortega Maldonado — in
tow. Maldonado died from
the coronavirus on April 22,
and didn’t have any family in
New York, Tapia said.
“He asked me, ‘If something
happens to me, can I
count on you?’ I told him he
could count on me,” he said,
adding that, from Green-
Wood, Maldonado’s ashes
were to be sent back to his native
Guerrero, Mexico. “I’m
happy now because I’ll send
him to his family. Let’s hope
he gets there and his soul can
rest in his homeland.”
More than 100 members of Brooklyn’s Latin American community, like
the Villar brothers (right), came together on July 2 for a vigil at Green-
Wood Cemetery. Photos by Paul Frangipane
For Reyes, and other attendees,
Mixteca’s memorial
service was the only chance
he’s had to wake his friend.
“I loved him like a brother
and he loved me like a
brother,” Reyes said. “This is
the fi rst time we have the opportunity
to give him the last
goodbye.”
S’Park gathers for COVID vigil
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