BALTIMORE — The woman behind Baltimore Ceasefire got a big gift on Wednesday. Heritage, part of the MileOne Autogroup, stepped up and donated a 2013 Volkswagen Tiguan to Erricka Bridgeford.
Bridgeford founded the Baltimore Ceasefire group. The goal of the group is to end violence in Baltimore. According to its website, the ultimate goal of Baltimore Ceasefire 365 is for everyone in the city to commit to zero murders. Bridgeforth started by calling ceasefire weekends. The first one was held in August 2017. On those weekends, the group hosts events and offers resources in the community to try and stop violence.
MileOne Autogroup was moved by Bridgeford's inspirational work.
“I read recently about the effort to raise funds for Erricka so that she can purchase a vehicle that will allow her to continue to expand the mission of Baltimore Ceasefire,” said Steven Fader, MileOne Autogroup CEO.
“In visiting the GoFundMe page, I quickly realized that this was something we could provide to Erricka and that would allow all of the generous support she received from others to help fuel the programs and activities of Baltimore Ceasefire.”
A GoFundMe page had been started to raise money for the "Ceasefire-Lady Mobile." More than $12,000 had been raised when MileOne Autogroup stepped in to donate the car. According to the GoFundMe, the money raised will now go to help pay for all the extra fees associated with getting and keeping the car.
Wednesday morning, a grateful and exuberant Bridgeford was presented the keys to her car.
When asked what this means to her, she said "It's going to relieve so much stress. It means I can travel all over the state doing the peace work that I do without having to worry about breaking down."
"It means I can be blessing murder spaces around the city. It means I can be doing outreach everywhere and going into schools, like, everything that I need to do. Nobody is going to get a call from me saying 'I'm sorry I can't be there because my car just something.'"
A Baltimore Ceasefire community action strategy meeting is being held Thursday, February 7. You can find more information here.
