BUFFALO N.Y. (WKBW) — The truth is in the temperature and on Jefferson Avenue the beat can be found in the heat at the inaugural Jefferson Avenue Friday Night Live.
Doug Ruffin says he wants to capture the history being made at this event.
"My favorite part about growing up is the culture," he said.
When he was growing up in Buffalo, Ruffin says he saw something missing within his community.
"The support you know trying to get people to really buy into the importance of building up this community," he shared.
Ruffin says this Friday Night Live is one of many avenues to healing and rebuilding after the Tops mass shooting.
"We're taking a negative and turning it into a positive and working hard to uplift this community," Ruffin stated.
Event organizer Marnetta Malcolm says she grew up on the East Side of Buffalo and saw emptiness within the community after the shooting.
"We need to fill the void so this is just a small way," she said.
The event had food and clothing vendors, along with resource tents like the African American food co-op and Best Self.
Ruffin says this event brought him back to his childhood.
"I'm seeing it as a small child seeing everybody being a part of the culture being for the culture and this is just another event that's going to be a part of the history," he said.
Friday Night Live will be held every Friday until August 18.
