Pastor of church near scene of two homicides says he is concerned for neighborhood children

COLUMBUS (WCMH) -- Volunteers at Clair United Methodist Church were packing food bags Thursday morning. The church regularly provides food and meals to hundreds of families on the south side. Just outside, police still had Barthman Avenue blocked off to traffic after it was the scene of two homicides in three days. Monday, 29-year-old Brandon Meeks was shot and killed inside his home. Then Wednesday night, after a candlelight vigil to remember Meeks, a drive-by shooting killed one man and injured four others including a nine-year-old girl. Back inside the church, Pastor Greg Herndon says he is particularly troubled by the impact of the violence on children in the neighborhood. "We're right smack dab in the middle of these issues and we want them to have a place of comfort to come," Herndon said. "This drive-by shooting and these incidents where children are getting caught by the bullets and those kinds of things, it's a deep, deep concern for all of us - not just in terms of safety but what can we do to change the culture." Herndon believes the church may be well positioned to help show children an alternative expression of life and to help lift them out of this hurricane of violence. "Programs that would help the children be motivated about their goals and their aspirations, just who they are and just make them feel good about who they are," Herndon said. By early Thursday morning, the city's homicide total for the year was 133, a nearly 30 percent increase from 2016. The barrage of bad news led a group of black pastors and community leaders to brainstorm ideas Thursday at Family Missionary Baptist Church. Brother Cecil Ahad of Men For The Movement said the community needs to step up. "I don't care how many police they've got - they can get a hundred more police but it's not going to stop," Ahad said. "These people aren't afraid of the police and the police can't solve our social issues in the black community." Others in the meeting said there are good programs already in place but that more community members need to step up and volunteer to make a difference in the lives of young people.