MILWAUKEE (CBS58) -- June is National Gun Violence Awareness Month. In Milwaukee, local leaders and groups are on the ground continuing to help fight this epidemic. A drive-through memorial for gun violence victims was held Sat., June 4, 2022.

"It's pain that will never go away.

"Why y'all do this to me, why y'all do this to me," Lakia Thomas said. She is the mother of Diamond Arberry.

Arberry was shot to death outside Element nightclub in downtown Milwaukee on July 17, 2021.

The shooting happened after a large fight that started inside the club and ended in the street.

"On the camera, you can hear two shots and then you can see Diamond go down," Trinika Walker said.

The mother of three is just one of many lives lost to gun violence across the city. A photograph of Arberry's face sits next to a dozen more on Sherman Boulevard.

"These are lives, they are not just numbers and when you see the families you know impacted people are," Jennifer Hoffman-Jonas said. She is with Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense 

Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense and Milwaukee's Office of Violence Prevention locking arms for their second annual drive-through memorial on Saturday. Community members wore orange to honor gun violence victims and raise awareness.

"The number of photos there don't even scratch the surface in terms of the number of people that have been fatally shot. It's important for us to remember lives that were lost and try to prevent anyone else losing their lives to gun violence," Arnitta Holliman said. She is the director of the Office of Violence Prevention.

Anti-violence prevention organizations and leaders say there's only so much they can do on their end.

"Definitely on the legislative level is one of the biggest in terms of getting universal background checks and extreme risk protection passed in our state and nationally," Hoffman-Jonas said. 

The groups passed out free gun locks. Holliman says she's hoping people put those gun locks to use.

"We hope they're not only thinking about the problem but the solution so people are taking the gun locks very willingly which is a great thing. We hope they will lock up their guns," Holliman says.

There will be another memorial drive-through memorial here tomorrow on Sherman Boulevard Sun., June 5, 2022.