Freeman visited the Goodwin family at the hospital on March 3 and had a conversation with Angel Keith Goodwin, Chris’ mother. She had seen a post on Facebook from another band member who mentioned that Goodwin’s trumpet was sitting in his locker collecting dust.

“She wanted me to play Chris’ trumpet because there was a post about Chris’ trumpet sitting in his locker, so I promised her I would play it,” Freeman said.

“I wanted to play something in honor of Chris at the vigil and I thought of ‘Amazing Grace,’” she said.

After the two-hour vigil, the three senior girls sold out of “Pray4Chris” T-shirts, took orders for more and raised $608 in donations for the Goodwin family.

“It was an amazing sight,” said attendee Grant Cole. “(It’s) obvious that Chris is loved and respected by many, many people.”

Amy Archer also attended the vigil.

“I just wanted to pass along how amazed we were to see so many people come together to pray for your loved one,” said Archer.

“He is clearly one special young man. You could feel God’s presence all around. It was amazing,” Archer added.

After the vigil, Parsley and Murer went to UAB and presented the Goodwin family with t-shirts, candles from the vigil and the donation jar.

“Words can’t describe what we feel in our hearts for what you all have done for Christopher and our family,” said Angel Goodwin. “He is so blessed to have such amazing friends. Thank you for accepting the challenge.

“Keep praying and know that we all are so going to win. God is so good! You all have blessed us beyond measure, we love you,” she said.

Donation jars for Christopher Goodwin are located at: Joe’s Italian and Ladybug Lane in Alabaster; Main Street Florist, Bernie’s On Main, Go Wireless, Beverly’s BBQ, PawPaw’s, Personal Touch and Brown Lumber in Columbiana; at Hartley’s, Ekklesia Coffee, Chelsea Lane, The Chunky Money and Snider’s Pharmacy in Chelsea; Tin Top BBQ and Kristie’s in Calera; Little Italy in Helena and Baumhower’s Wings on Doug Baker Boulevard in North Shelby.

Students have been using the hash tag #Pray4Chris on Twitter to encourage prayers. The hash tag has been tweeted by users thousands of times, including University of Alabama running back and Heisman finalist Trent Richardson.

“My thoughts and prayers go out to Christopher Goodwin and his family #Pray4Chris,” Richardson said via Twitter.