Jaeggi Remembered at Gandhi Brigade Youth Media Festival (Video)
Richard Jaeggi was remembered as a mentor, friend and community hero at the 7th annual Gandhi Brigade Youth Media Festival.
MyMCMedia’s Valerie Bonk has the story of how Jaeggi, who died less than a week before his organization’s biggest event of the year, was honored for his work mentoring local youth.
There were laughs and there were tears as members and supporters of the Gandhi Brigade gathered in Silver Spring to remember Jaeggi at the Youth Media Festival.
“I was a friend of Richard’s and I’ve known him I think longer than I’ve known the Gandhi Brigade and so to know him and to see the kind of work he did and to have no idea that he was sick, I just wanted to be here and honor him because I think he really deserved that,” said Montgomery County Councilmember Marc Elrich.
A board sitting in the lobby of the Silver Spring Civic Building served as a memorial for Jaeggi, with community members signing messages remembering him and his service to the community.
“He was my mentor, my friend, my father figure and today was just a way for me to remember him and to let him know that he may be gone for now but people like me will always remember him and love him and we’ll support his dream,” said Katya Hernandez a Gandhi Brigade alumnus.
“It’s only just so often that someone comes along with a special spirit that inspires people and really creates something that wasn’t there and no one else could have done,” said Montgomery County Councilmember Nancy Floreen.
“Part of our challenge is to keep the doors open and to keep the vision going and that was a large part of today, today is a tribute to Richard and what he’s meant to the community,” said Vicki Warren, Chair of the Gandhi Brigade Board.
As to the future of the Gandhi Brigade, Warren says they will continue to honor Richard’s legacy.
“I think that we would be letting down everything that he’s built if we didn’t find a way to keep everything going,” she said.
Richard created the Gandhi Brigade in 2005 as a way to empower local youth to deliver positive messages to the community through media.
“The only way that I can go forth with a positive mentality is to embody his passion and his ideals, his kindness, his humility and inspire other people to do the same,” said Richard’s daughter Lisa Jaeggi.
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