WILLMAR -- In a show of support for Willmar’s Muslim community, volunteers have organized a walk Saturday out to the Kandiyohi County Fairgrounds and Foot Lake, where two young boys accidentally drowned this week.
The walk starts at 2 p.m. Saturday at Bethel Lutheran Church downtown and will end at the entrance to the fairgrounds on North Seventh Street.
The event, which is open to anyone who wants to participate, was organized by Jared Wosmek of Willmar.
Wosmek said in an email that the idea grew out of the emotional response this week to the deaths of Ahmed Hashi, 11, and Idris Hussein, 10. The boys were reported missing late Tuesday evening and were discovered four hours later in Foot Lake. They had last been seen on the dock near the entrance to the fairgrounds.
Wosmek said he has heard from many people who are looking for ways to show their support for the boys’ families, friends and neighbors. He said the walk is “a small way to show our Muslim neighbors that we care about them and love them.”
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Since posting an invitation to the walk on his Facebook page two days ago, there has been a “humbling” outpouring of responses, Wosmek said.
“I want to show we are all part of one community,” he said.
