One Fresno family had an eventful graduation season with six ceremonies spanning pre-kindergarten to high school graduation.

It’s an exciting time of year for students and families alike, as pupils receive acknowledgement of their hard work and transition into a new phase of school and life.

For Cheryl McCray Riggins Sumler, the chief financial officer of Take a Stand, it’s a time of mixed emotions. She lost her granddaughter, Kayla Foster, to gun violence during this time in 2017.

Sumler flips between joy and pain, experiencing and spreading good news one day, then being struck by sadness the next.

“It’s a joy to see my grandbabies, you know, graduating, but it brings an emotional time,” Sumler said. “I’m happy, but I’m sad at the same time.”

She focuses on her blessings to keep her going, centering on her more than 30 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

“They need me, so that’s what keeps me going,” Sumler said. “If I didn’t have that, I don’t know where I would be.”

She “shared her blessings” on Facebook, detailing the multiple celebrations happening in her family.

Celebrations This Spring

Sumler had five grandchildren and one great-grandchild matriculating this spring.

Two little ones made the step from pre-kindergarten to kindergarten. Just ahead of them, two others graduated from kindergarten, transitioning into first grade.

Another grandchild graduated from elementary school, moving into middle school. Finally, a grandchild received their high school diploma.

Two graduated here in Fresno, while the others attend school in Los Angeles. Sumler attended the graduation of her “little ones” held here.

Now, she is heading down south to take all of them out to dinner and to a Barry White tribute artist in Los Angeles.

“The sixth grader, he said, ‘Grandma, you coming to my graduation?’ I said, ‘Baby, I won’t be able to make it, but I’ll tell you what, I’ll be there and we all gonna go out to dinner to celebrate your graduation,’ ” Sumler said.

Take a Stand Fresno

Take a Stand is a Fresno non-profit that partners with the community on a safer environment for the youth.

“We started Take a Stand, and that was 2010. Then, in 2017 we because victims of the thing we were fighting against: The violence here in Fresno,” Sumler said.

Sumler, born and raised in Fresno, cares deeply about the community, and she stands alongside others who have lost loved ones.

“There’s a lot of mothers that I talk to on a regular basis,” Sumler said. “(At first) I could only sympathize. I had no idea what they were going through. Now, I do. I can speak on it.”

She started “A Mother’s Cry” a support group, aa part of Take a Stand, for mothers that have lost children.