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It was one mother's wish to help find her daughter's childhood friend Lauren Spierer that brought Edgemont residents together to perform yoga in support of a missing member of their community.
"We're all here for one reason," said Nancy Shenker, who led an hour-long yoga session Thursday evening on the Edgemont High School football field to raise money for the "Find Lauren Fund."
Nearly 300 people attended, some participating in the yoga session and others just to show their support. Donations were taken to assist the Spierer family in their search.
Spierer, a 2009 graduate of Edgemont High School, went missing early Friday, June 3, in Bloomington, Indiana where she attends Indiana University.
Shenker said she thought yoga would help bring the community together and calm feelings of anxiety."It can help in the worst of situations," she said.
Shenker's daughter Ally, 20, was there to support her friend, who she had chatted with online the day before she went missing. Ally said they had talked about how they would spend the summer together when Spierer came home from school. She first met Lauren in the second grade playing youth soccer on the same team.
"I thought, 'Who is this girl who is like ten pounds and can kick the ball all the way down the field?'" said Ally. "My father looked at her and said to me, 'You two are going to be best friends.'"
Not everyone who attended the yoga session knew Spierer as closely as Ally, but they all empathized with the Spierer family, who remains in Indiana.
"I think the show of support derives from a lot of us being parents," said Neil Sudol, who brought his nine-year-old daughter Clara and a yoga mat. "We're all hopeful she'll return."
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