ISLAMIC CENTER OF SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Sixty children and about 50 volunteers gathered Saturday at the Islamic Center of San Diego to plant a "Heroes' Garden" in memory of three people killed in a shooting at the center in May.
The victims were Amin Abdullah, Mansour Kaziha and Nadir Awad.
The garden is meant to educate the community on bringing life from the Earth by taking care of the land. Kids participating range in age from 5 to 18 years old.
Sama Wareh, executive director of the Art and Wilderness Institute Community, organized the event.
"It's this idea of hope. It's like, you know, that one of the greatest acts that we can do is stewards of the land," Wareh said.
"I really hope that they get the education and the good memories together combined so when they're having fun and they're learning at the same time it kind of moves from short term memory to long term memory," Wareh said.
Among those planting and digging in the hot sun was 12-year-old Elias Li and his friends.
"We're just trying to kind of beautify this land over here. It's been sitting around for a long time, so we're planting fruit trees, we're bringing in native plants, and we're creating a pathway so people could walk through and pick fruit," Elias Li said.
"It's very satisfying when you put a plant to the ground. I feel like it's going to contribute to the whole beauty of the place," Li said.
Ten-year-old Amin Deabes said the shooting shocked him.
"Right when I heard about it, I couldn't really believe it. I thought someone was joking with me, and then when I saw it on TV, I was like, wow. That's crazy," Deabes said.
For Li, the day was about more than gardening — it was about helping heal the community, one plant at a time.
"I feel like it's a very wholesome thing to do. And yeah, I'm pretty happy about what we're doing," Li said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
