A Bellingham man is trying to help raise $26 million to honor the 26 lives lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, where he was a fifth-grader some 25 years ago.

Jeff Belanger, 38, said it has been surreal watching television news conferences take place at his beloved Treadwell Park, where he played countless soccer games, and to watch the small, unassuming town where he grew up become known worldwide for last month’s shooting rampage.