Newark sign shop creates banner to honor Kobe Bryant, daughter

A Newark sign shop created a banner to honor NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, who died Sunday in a helicopter crash along with seven others.

“Sometimes when tragedy happens, there’s nothing you can do about it,” says Adrienne Acquaye with Fast Signs in Newark.

The owners of the family-run shop said that they wanted to help others in the community deal with the loss. They created a banner on which people can write messages expressing themselves.

“It was very tragic what happened. So, I said to enable us to provide the support that people need, this would be a keen way for them to do that without going to [Los Angeles] to be able to do that,” says co-owner Robert Aquay.

The banner will hang outside the shop located at 210 Market St. in Newark. The public is invited to sign the banner and leave their messages of support and their feelings. The owners say that they plan to send the banner to the Bryant family via the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

“It just makes me appreciate my family a lot more. And it’s sad to say when someone dies, that’s how we feel. But it just opens you up because any day is never guaranteed,” Acquaye says.

The banner will be available to sign through the weekend. The owners plan to send it to California on Monday.