Meaghan M. McDermott

@meagmc

A group of Pittsford residents outraged by a recent anonymous campaign to blanket their neighborhoods white supremacist fliers is striking back with a show of unity.

Calling themselves "PittsFORWARD," the group has created a Facebook page to organize a unity walk and to encourage residents to make other, overt displays that show the community is united against racism.

According to the page, two more neighborhoods were hit with the fliers earlier this week. That comes after the fliers were dropped in at least two neighborhoods last week. The slips of paper read "Make Rochester Great Again" and provide the website of a group that touts white supremacist ideals.

Kendra Evans, a resident and business owner in the Village of Pittsford, is a member of PittsFORWARD.

"The consensus about the fliers is that they're messages of hate and we have no room for hate in our community," she said. "We will meet their cowardice by standing strong together."

Evans said PittsFORWARD came out of a meeting over the weekend that brought more than 50 residents from all over Pittsford together to plot a strategy to counter the hateful messaging.

The Facebook page and a planned Unity Walk are some of the first activities.

"The walk is meant to unify our community," said Evans. "If one person is going to come in and try to divide us, we are going to take as many people as we can get to show that this is not what we stand for and this is not welcome in our community."

Government leaders have also denounced the fliers and whomever has been dropping them off. Last week, Town Supervisor Bill Smith said there is no place in Pittsford for the white supremacist message.

Earlier this week, the Pittsford Village board passed a resolution stating "The Board of Trustees of the Village of Pittsford denounces in the strongest possible terms the recent sinister, racist activities in our community. There is no room for such division and hatred and we have zero tolerance for such despicable behavior in our village or town."

And Pittsford Central School District Superintendent Mike Pero said the message in the fliers runs counter to the school district's values.

The district "values and celebrates diversity all year long in our classrooms at every level. We regularly welcome students and their families from around the world. They bring with them experiences we may not share. We recognize and acknowledge these differences as enrichments to our community," he said. "Pittsford is a place where families from diverse backgrounds are welcomed. The Town, Village and School District will join together on the walk as a celebration of these differences and affirmation of our values towards inclusion."

The walk will begin at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Spiegel Recreation and Community Center on Lincoln Avenue and proceed to Carpenter Park on Main Street in the village.

Evans said the hope is that PittsFORWARD becomes sustainable beyond just responding to the fliers.

"This is about living together and working together and respecting each other," she said. Some ideas being floated include a yard sign campaign and community forums at the Pittsford Library. "We need to continue talking about this and have dialogue about race and community and about living together respectfully and responsibly."

MCDERMOT@Gannett.com