Local nonprofit CovenantCare Hospice celebrated its first annual Heavenly Butterfly Release on Saturday, which saw community members come together to honor loved ones lost. Participants were able to donate to CovenantCare in order to see a butterfly released in the name of a friend or relative who has passed away — a spectacle that featured a beautiful display of orange fluttering through the sky over the lawn at Calvary Baptist Church.

The event was especially meaningful for Greg and Michelle Lopez, who released the wave of butterflies from a box in honor of their son Aaron. He passed away in a car accident at age 23 four years ago, and Saturday would have been his 27th birthday.