Parents of opioid victims place 200 memorial rocks at Islip park to honor their children

A group of Long Island parents turned their grief into a gesture of remembrance Thursday, placing hundreds of painted purple memorial rocks at the Tree Memorial and Serenity Garden area in the Suffolk County Environmental Center at the Scully Estate in Islip.

The ceremony, organized by The Purple Rock Project, took place in what is known as Gabriel’s Giving Tree Park. Bereaved parents and grandparents who have lost loved ones to the opioid and fentanyl epidemic were joined by volunteers and members of the Suffolk County Police Department.

The name of each person memorialized was read aloud before their rock was placed beneath the Angel Tree.

“The opioid/fentanyl crisis has left behind thousands of grieving family members across this nation,” said Carole Trottere, founder of The Purple Rock Project.

Trottere, who also co-writes Greater Long Island’s grief advice column “In the Wake,” lost her son Alex to a fentanyl poisoning in 2018.

“Knowing that someone is saying their loved one’s name and not forgetting them means so much to them,” she said. “The comments that I have gotten from parents are so moving and heartfelt — I know that this undertaking is worth every second that we spend on it.”

A group called the Warrior Angel Moms assisted in decorating the rocks that were placed by the tree on Thursday.

The Purple Rock Project has locations in Islip and at the lakeside park adjacent to Babylon Town Hall, 200 Sunrise Highway in Lindenhurst.

_{Top: More than 200 rocks were placed under the Angel Tree (photo by Lori Carbonaro).}