Amanda Forum - The Times Editorial

Their quest to replace tragedy with hope and salvation for other teens is one worth noting and encouraging.

In 2011, 19-year-old Amanda Bach’s former boyfriend Dustin McCowan shot the Portage teen to death after she visited McCowan’s Union Township home, a jury determined.

The Portage woman’s partially clothed body was found the following day, less than 300 yards from the house in a wooded area along County Road 625 West at the Canadian National railroad tracks.

It was an excruciatingly painful way for Sandy and Bill Bach to lose their daughter.

But the couple and area nonprofits are continuing to honor their daughter’s life and legacy through a teen advisory council in Porter County. They also started the Caring Place, which created The Amanda Forum to bring awareness to youth about healthy relationships and the dangers of domestic violence.

Last month, more than 160 Lake County students and representatives from the East Chicago Central, Griffith, Munster, Hobart and Crown Point high schools participated in a forum workshop encouraging discussion about issues related to dating violence.

“Through all of the pain that we live with every day, it gives us a bit of comfort knowing that sharing her story may save someone else,” Bill Bach said during the October event. “If we save one life, it is worth it, and we feel like it’s doing a lot more than that already.”

A common response to tragedy is to shelter in mourning. Instead, the Bachs and their nonprofit partners are using this tragedy to help change the direction of others.

The October workshop resulted from a $3,000 grant awarded by the Munster Rotary Club. Meals were generously donated by Strack & Van Til grocery chain.

We hope this spirit of cooperation and desire to glean hope from tragedy spreads throughout Northwest Indiana.

In the end, everyone’s goal should be fostering a safer environment for our children and young adults.