Through Monday, the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office is collecting donations for the children who live in a mobile home community where five members of a family - including four children - were stabbed to death last month.
Deputy Shannon Volkadov said the small community in Loganville - part of the larger Gwinnett Estates Mobile Home Park - is close-knit. She said the children who live there are hurting after the deaths of their friends. Investigators realized as they worked in the community after the murders that there were some great needs there.
"Certainly our thoughts and prayers were with the people that were affected immediately in the family, but also we thought about the children who lived in the immediate area of this family because...there are a lot of children in the neighborhood, they all played together every day," Volkadov said. "I'm sure these young children have been affected by this terrible tragedy."
Volkadov said the Sheriff's Office started the effort July 31 with a post on its Facebook page, and the response has been overwhelming.
"I really do want to stress that the Sheriff's Office - we are not the heroes of the story," Volkadov said. "The heroes of the story are the people who are sending in one donation after another to help meet the needs of these families."
Volkadov said one person donated a new playset for the small playground in the part of the community where the Romero children played with the other children in the mobile home park. That new playset will be installed in the next several days.
Volkadov said so many school supplies have been donated, deputies will be able to share with the entire community, not just the neighbors of the deceased children.
Volkadov said they are still collecting toys and clothing for the children, but she said there's a food pantry at the mobile home park that nees to be stocked, as well.
"The food pantry is something that is currently not stocked, and there are families in this community that will call the office and ask if there's any food...so we know that there is a need for food out there," Volkadov said,
Donation bins will remain in place through August 7 at the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office headquarters at 2900 University Parkway in Lawrenceville.
