Various nonprofit groups came together Saturday for the fifth annual Community Awareness Walk.
The walk originally started as a way to combat child sexual abuse, but is now inclusive of all violence that affects people living in Brooklyn.
The groups participating in the walk say they are trying to stop and prevent violence of all kinds, but say their main focus is to reach out to young men in Brooklyn to try to get them involved in positive community activities from a young age.
"They are the most challenged population in our society," says event organizer Vincent Riggins. "Lack of jobs, homelessness, housing, mental health issues, so somebody has to address that other than prisons."
The groups also released balloons into the air to remember the people who have died from violence here in Brooklyn and all over the world.