Victims of domestic violence were honored Thursday afternoon. Family Resources and a group of men called the Elephant Club held their 7th annual Flowers on the River event.
Each year they read the names of victims and place a flower in the Mississippi River for each life that was lost.
Alan Vrombaut is the leader of the "Engaging Males" program at Family Resources, and a member of the Elephant Club. He says members are "ordinary men against domestic violence" who volunteer to mentor at-risk young people.
"A lot of them didn't have any positive male role models growing up. And we find that just modeling positive behavior and positive interactions has made a huge difference in the lives of some of these kids."
Members of the Elephant club include former juvenile court officers, judges, and men who work for social service agencies.
According to Family Resources, in 2016 9 women in Iowa and 46 in Illinois were killed by a spouse or former spouse.