LANSING, Mich — Community organizations and local officials gathered at the old REO elementary school building in South Lansing for a block party aimed at strengthening neighborhood bonds and providing resources to prevent gun violence.
- The "Rebuild the Village" block party combined fun activities with valuable community resources.
- Several organizations focused on gun violence prevention participated in the event.
- Lansing has seen 33 non-fatal shootings and 5 fatal shootings so far in 2025.
Neighbors, local officials, and community organizations came together Saturday to celebrate unity and share resources at the village block party in South Lansing.
WATCH: South Lansing block party brings community together to fight gun violence
"We're back here rebuilding the village right now and it's a great time and a great opportunity for all," said Archie Hudson Jr.
The event at the old REO elementary school building featured food, fun, giveaways, and a crowd favorite - a dunk tank fundraiser for The Village's new youth boxing program. Lansing Mayor Andy Schor was among several local figures who took the plunge to support the cause.
Andrea Smith, who brought her family to the event, appreciated the community spirit.
"I love seeing everybody in the community get together and have a good time," Smith said.
Behind the festivities was a deeper mission to address gun violence in the community.
"We really want to activate this area, get families engaged with the kids to show there's a hub of resources here," said Conner Holguin, executive director of The Village Lansing.
Holguin explained that the event brought together various organizations working to prevent gun violence.
"We just find that all of these different organizations in Lansing, whether they're directly targeting gun violence or not, are working in gun violence at some point," Holguin said.
According to the Lansing Police Department, there have been 33 non-fatal shootings and 5 fatal shootings so far in 2025. The resources at Saturday's "Rebuild the Village" block party sought to prevent those numbers from rising higher.
Smith expressed appreciation for organizations like the Mikey 23 Foundation being present at the event.
"That means a lot. I also had a brother who was murdered by gun violence, so seeing them here, seeing the support, I'm loving that," Smith said.
Several other resources were available at the event, including the Lansing Empowerment Network, Turning Point of Lansing, and LPD's Gun Safety Program.
Mayor Schor credited events like these as part of why Lansing is seeing a decrease in gun violence.
"We talk about prevention, intervention and justice, this is part of the prevention, this is getting the social impact. We know social impacts are a big piece of when someone decides to pick up a gun and use it," Schor said.
This was the event's first year, and organizers hope to make it an annual tradition.
"We really want to focus on this area because there's a lot going on for them," Hudson 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.
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