BUFFALO, N.Y. — Putting an end to community and youth violence requires collaboration, and that's why the Buffalo Peacemakers and members of other community anti-violence groups hosted a Business and Community Meeting at Northland Workforce Training Center.
On Wednesday, business leaders gathered in support of the Buffalo Peacemakers' consistent efforts and actions to create safer schools, streets and neighborhoods.
Pastor James Giles is a coordinator for the Peacemakers and founder of Back to Basics Outreach Ministry. He says this meeting was a long time in the making, and the overwhelming turning is a sign that more people understand the task on the table.
"It's literally going to take a village, all of us," Giles says. "We can't win this battle with volunteerism. We have to really lean in and be very intentional about the work."
Leaders from prominent businesses, including: Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Harmac Medical Products, Independent Health, KeyBank, Wegmans, Univera Healthcare, Sinatra & Co., Douglas Development, M&T Bank, Lawley Insurance, The OSC Foundation, North American Brewing, Barclay Damon, LeChase Construction, Pike Construction, Erie County and many others committed to standing with and by the Peacemakers.
John Somers is the CEO of Harmac Medical Products headquartered on Buffalo's East Side and has been collaborating with Pastor Giles and the Peacemakers for the past 15 years. Somers tells 2 On Your Side he's very encouraged by the show of businesses ready and willing to rise to the occasion.
"I think it's about building trust and opportunity, and I think that's kind of a one step at a time thing. That's what the Peacemakers do and that's what Harmac tries to do," Somers says.
Erie County District Attorney John Flynn was also present.
Flynn says that compared to 2020 and 2021, gun violence and homicide numbers are improving, but there's is still a lot of important and necessary work that can be done and needs to be done.
"There are things on the front end that we can do and there are things on the back end that we can do," Flynn says. "We can have more forums like this one, we can have more outreach in the community to help our youngsters."