Gone But Not Forgotten

When tragedy strikes, we're often compelled to make some kind of sense of it. When Linda Villareale learned of her daughter's murder, she emerged from the loss with a need to stop such violence from happening ever again and with three granddaughters to raise.

In 2013, Gemma Burlakoff was fatally shot by her husband on a street in Boca Raton. Two of her daughters witnessed the horrific event, and all three were orphaned when their father was subsequently killed by police.

At the time, Villareale had recently retired. What savings she had were gone after fighting for custody of her granddaughters, and the GoFundMe campaign she created, which became known as Gemma's Angels, was their only lifeline.

"When they became orphans, there was no money at all," says the Delray Beach resident. "The girls basically came to me with the clothes they wore for the day."

Within a few months of her daughter's passing, Villareale turned Gemma's Angels into a nonprofit. Together with granddaughters Bryce (11), Brady (9) and Blain (5), she is active with Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse (AVDA). Every year, they can be found at AVDA's Run For Hope in their Gemma's Angels T-shirts, raising awareness about the consequences of gun violence.

"We're joined hands in hand with AVDA in trying to support their goals," Villareale says. "But we want to do more. We want to get into the scholarship funds, and we want to help in other areas as well."

With Villareale's granddaughters still so young, most fundraising efforts are still geared toward their care and college funds. But Villareale plans to expand their work to raise awareness of domestic violence and help others before it's too late.

"I hope we can raise a lot of money, that we can get into the minds of a lot of people, she says. This is an organization that was founded because of this type of physical, mental and emotional abuse, caused by a gun and caused by murder. So, it is real. It does happen. Three little girls became orphans, and we hope that it doesn't happen, but God knows it probably will. But there's a place where people can go and get some help." O

For more information, visit facebook.com/gemmas3angels.