Walk for Hope raises awareness for missing persons

Elsewhere in these pages, there will be coverage of the graduation ceremonies at Sacred Heart High School. One face that you will not see in the photos is that of Mekayla Bali, who went missing in April of 2016, and still has not been found. A Walk for Hope in Honour of

Mekayla Bali went from Sacred Heart High School to Western Financial Group City Centre Park was held by the family and Parkland Victim Services on International Missing Childrens Day.

Paula Bali says that their goal for the event was to honour Mekayla, but also honour other missing children in the province. The walk is part of their continuing efforts to keep her daughter’s appearance in the public eye, something that Bali says goes beyond her own family, especially as they don’t know what happened to her over a year later.

“We try to be very public about Mekayla’s disappearance because somebody knows something, and maybe doesn’t even realize that they know an important piece of information or had seen something that day that could lead us to Mekayla. As private as a tragedy as it is and it’s really hard to put yourself out there in the public eye, in reality it’s a public issue. It was my daughter today it could be anybody’s tomorrow.”

The walk also kicked off the National Victims and Survivors of Crime Week, which runs from May 28 to June 3 with the theme “Empowering Resilience.”  Parkland Victim Services was at the walk to remind people what they do, and how they help families like the Bali family explains Cheryl Tiller with Parkland Victim Services.

“We are here to empower or help people who have been victims of crimes or trauma, whether it be by listening, supporting through the criminal justice system and helping them understand that, financial assistance when they are the victims of a severe or major crime, like a murder, a missing person or an assault, that sort of thing.”

The walk was put on in conjunction with the Bali family because they are an example of people who they work with, as they have been working with the family from the beginning of their ordeal.

“We have been trying to empower them and help them through the most difficult time that any parent or family could go through.”

The walk was a way to show people what that Parkland Victims Services is there for any victims of crime, and Tiller wants people to know that they’re in the community helping people who are dealing with  crime.

“We don’t council, but we guide and support. This brings a highlight to show that we are in the community and these are the things that we work with.”