Bleachers were empty, but the football field was filled with some students from the Sturgis Brown high school. “Spread love… not hate,” was the theme of a rally held by Sturgis Brown High School students.

This comes one day after all homecoming events, including the football game against Pine Ridge were cancelled after an inappropriate phrase was allegedly spray painted on a junk car by several students.

Four students put together a committee to create the rally to show the community should not be judged by the actions of a few.

Lydia Roterdam, one of the event organizers, was thrilled with the turn out and believes that the community will come together.

“They don’t know what we’re like and doing this love-in, this demonstration, is me trying to get the word out. To show them what we’re like and show them that we’re a loving community,” said Roterdam.

The viral pictures have led to many negative comments and this was the reason behind this event.

Ricelle Bruch, a mother of one of the organizers, was there to show her support to her daughter and the community.

“I think the biggest thing to take away from it is that, they try to form positivity out of negative. They wanted to show that not necessarily we are a negative community or a negative school. And that we really do love all people and all situations. They just wanted to spread that around,” said Bruch.

Some students from the event hope those who painted the inappropriate comments would learn from their mistake.

“The lesson I hope they take away from what happened Oct. 11th is that things do hurt. They might not be intended that way, but they can be perceived a different way. It can cause a big difference,” said Roterdam.