Community organizers hosted the second annual holiday event Rami's Heart National COVID-19 Memorial Saturday.

"It's just really nice to get together with other people who share the same loss and understand the grief that goes along with it," said Pamela Addison, whose husband died of COVID-19.

Addison and her two small children were just one of the many families whose lives have been forever changed because of COVID-19.

"My husband passed away April 29, 2020. My son was only five months and my daughter had just turned two," Addison said. "I didn't know as a parent I was going to have to go through this at such a young age."

The occasion was more than just a holiday event, but an opportunity for those who are still grieving to gather and feel a sense of community similar to the COVID-19 memorial started by Rima Samman, who lost her brother to the illness in May 2020.

"I don't really meet people who've been affected the way we have been by COVID," said Narita Beddoe, whose mother died from the virus. "Meeting other people, makes it feel real and like valid."

Many gathered to remembered loved ones from the time the memorial was first started on the beach in Belmar to its now permanent home at Allaire Community Farms in Wall Township.

Rami's Heart also continues to lobby for a National Day of Remembrance to honor those who died from COVID-19.

"We've had a lot of signatures on it, but, unfortunately, we have not been able to get a Republican member to sign on, which has made it very difficult and it's really unfortunate because there's nothing really political about this," Samman said.

Over 6 million people have died from COVID-19 globally with over 1 million in the United States alone.

"I think it's very important to create a community where people can come together and almost a communal grief time where we can relate to each other, we can share stories and this way, we all don't feel alone," Samman added.