Danvers Healing & Unity Event Draws More Than 500 Attendees

DANVERS, MA — A day designed to help spur healing within the Danvers community through celebrating all the different cultures and lifestyles that make up the town drew more than 500 attendees this weekend.

Those who headed to the Danvers Healing & Unity Event took part in a wide range of activities, food, and entertainment and had the chance to interact with those from many different groups from diverse backgrounds.

"We were blown away with the number of people who came to the event and by all the positive comments we received," Danvers CARES Community Outreach Coordinator David Thomson told Patch.

Among the Danvers HUE highlights were origami, games, therapy dog demonstrations, creating identity flags, tying ribbons around the Tree of Hope and storytime with age-appropriate cultural books.

The Peabody, Wakefield and Salem Police Departments also brought their respective therapy dogs for the event.

"We are incredibly thankful to Boston Bridges Initiative for making this event possible through an initial grant and to Eastern Bank Foundation, Northeast Arc, North Shore Bank, Cataldo Ambulance, Great Point Wealth, Danvers Cultural Council, Danvers YMCA, and the Danvers elementary school and HRMS PACs for their financial sponsorship," Thomson said.

Danvers HUE was developed in response to a succession of incidents of hate, bias, antisemitism and homophobia in the town in recent years.

Thomson said Boston Bridges provided a $5,000 grant that help bring in exhibitors and vendors that represent as many of the different cultures among Danvers residents as possible.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)