GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — "I got that phone call that no parent ever wants to get," said Barbara Thomas.
The call came because Barbara Thomas' son Timothy had been shot and killed.
"When you take someone's life, you not only take that person's life, you take your own life as well," said Thomas.
But with more than a dozen shootings in the past month, Barbara says the message is not getting through to local youth.
So on Monday night, the Grand Rapids group Mothers on a Mission rolled out a casket to serve as a strong reminder.
"When they look in that mirror and it's in a coffin, whose face do they see?" asked Tina Cansler, the event organizer.
"I didn't know it was me. This is letting me know that hey, that could be you and you should value you," said Ellis McDonald. "If I value myself then I should value others."
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"I do not want to drift, I do not want to drift. I got a son to live for," said Cansler.
Organizers hope this scared straight approach will lead to good decisions and help some realize how precious life can be.
"They see their face and what we are trying to prevent is that they don't end up in that coffin," said Cansler.
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