The way that Cedar Falls and surrounding communities are coming together after such a tragedy truly is a beautiful thing to witness. It makes me proud to live and be a member of this kind town.

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Earlier this week we shared details about how you can support Arlo Schmidt, the survivor of the tragic events at the Maquoketa Caves State Park. Family and friends of the Schmidts have put together a GoFundMe to raise money for the 9-year-old.

"Arlo lost both of his parents, Sarah and Tyler Schmidt, and his 6-year-old sister, Lula, to a senseless act of violence during a family vacation at a state park in Iowa on July 22. Arlo is a strong boy, surrounded by family and friends who are supporting him as best we can."

This fundraiser has raised $237,637 for Arlo as of July 27th.

His mother Sarah Schmidt was a library assistant in Cedar Falls. The Cedar Falls Library will be doing little tributes to the beloved staff member.

Reports say that the library is accepting cards, drawings, and other little mementos from the community to celebrate the life of the Schmidt family.

The library also had a few events that had to be moved around or canceled due to the tragedy.

From the looks of things, Mayor Green was planning to be a part of this lesson. He commented on the cancelation on Facebook saying,

"I will definitely hold this program down the road, in honor of Sarah. Just not quite yet. Sarah was so excited about this, and I truly love amateur cartography. Anyone can be a mapmaker!"

The Mayor has been publicly commenting on the tragedy and trying to show his support for the family while also trying to help heal the community.

The Mayor announced earlier this week that there would be a 'Celebration of Life’ for the family on August 2nd. It will be held at Overman Park and more details are set to be announced very soon.

Mayor Green said in a public statement on social media,

"While not a festive event, this truly is a celebration of these remarkable people. I am keeping the extended family closely in the loop on this and they are supportive of the event. I think Tyler and Sarah would love to see us all together as neighbors."

Make sure to download the free station app and follow the station on social media for more details about this when it becomes available.

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