BOSTON MA. JANUARY 19: Gary Lewis helps hang another row of ribbons at Grant AME Church as parishioners use flashlight to light up it’s covid ribbons to coincide the the commemoration by President Elect Joe Biden on January 19, 2021 in Boston, MA. Each ribbon correlates to a death in Massachusetts due to the coronavirus. There are now13,705 ribbons. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
Boston hospitals, churches and universities honored the lives lost to coronavirus by lighting their buildings in amber on Tuesday as part of a national COVID-19 memorial hosted by the Presidential Inaugural Committee.
“This memorial is a moment to remember the lives tragically lost and their loved ones, and it’s a reminder that we need to continue to remain vigilant to stop the spread in our communities,” said David Sweeney, president and CEO of the Medical Academic and Scientific Community Organization.
Eight MASCO members including Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital all lit up their buildings Tuesday night for the vigil.
Grant African Methodist Episcopal Church in Roxbury also joined the memorial by having 25 volunteers shine a flashlight on the church.
The congregation has been honoring Massachusetts residents lost to coronavirus with ribbons since the pandemic began. Rev. Pedro Castro Jr. said on Tuesday there were 13,705 ribbons on the church.
“This is how Roxbury can say that we remember these precious lives that lived and contributed to their families and to the society themselves,” Castro said.
He added, “I think it will bring greater peace to our community.”
Castro said the memorial also represents a traumatic year in politics and support for the new Biden administration.
“We are all in this together and I really believe we are going to build America back better,” Castro said.
BOSTON MA. JANUARY 19: Gary Lewis helps hang another row of ribbons at Grant AME Church as parishioners use flashlight to light up it's covid ribbons to coincide the the commemoration by President Elect Joe Biden on January 19, 2021 in Boston, MA. Each ribbon correlates to a death in Massachusetts due to the coronavirus. There are now13,705 ribbons. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
BOSTON MA. JANUARY 19: Roberta Young Jackson joins other parishioners at Grant AME Church as they use flashlights to light up it's covid ribbons to coincide the the commemoration by President Elect Joe Biden on January 19, 2021 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
BOSTON MA. JANUARY 19: Gary Lewis helps hang another row of ribbons at Grant AME Church as parishioners use flashlight to light up it's covid ribbons to coincide the the commemoration by President Elect Joe Biden on January 19, 2021 in Boston, MA. Each ribbon correlates to a death in Massachusetts due to the coronavirus. There are now13,705 ribbons. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
BOSTON MA. JANUARY 19: Gary Lewis helps hang another row of ribbons at Grant AME Church as parishioners use flashlight to light up it's covid ribbons to coincide the the commemoration by President Elect Joe Biden on January 19, 2021 in Boston, MA. Each ribbon correlates to a death in Massachusetts due to the coronavirus. There are now13,705 ribbons. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
BOSTON MA. JANUARY 19: Gary Lewis helps hang another row of ribbons at Grant AME Church as parishioners use flashlight to light up it's covid ribbons to coincide the the commemoration by President Elect Joe Biden on January 19, 2021 in Boston, MA. Each ribbon correlates to a death in Massachusetts due to the coronavirus. There are now13,705 ribbons. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
BOSTON MA. JANUARY 19: Pastor Pedro Castro is silhouetted as parishioners at Grant AME Church use flashlights to light up it's covid ribbons to coincide the the commemoration by President Elect Joe Biden on January 19, 2021 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
BOSTON MA. JANUARY 19: Parishioners at Grant AME Church use flashlights to light up it's covid ribbons to coincide the the commemoration by President Elect Joe Biden on January 19, 2021 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
BOSTON MA. JANUARY 19: Terry Yancy helps hang another row of ribbons at Grant AME Church as parishioners use flashlight to light up it's covid ribbons to coincide the the commemoration by President Elect Joe Biden on January 19, 2021 in Boston, MA. Each ribbon correlates to a death in Massachusetts due to the coronavirus. There are now13,705 ribbons. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
BOSTON MA. JANUARY 19: Roberta Young Jackson joins other parishioners at Grant AME Church as they use flashlights to light up it's covid ribbons to coincide the the commemoration by President Elect Joe Biden on January 19, 2021 in Boston, MA. (Staff Photo By Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)
