Dear Editor,
On Thursday, June 2, communities across the country will be observing National Gun Violence Awareness Day. Locally here in Camden County, I am grateful to Mayor Jeffrey S. Kasko, who has issued a proclamation recognizing June 2 as Gun Violence Awareness Day in Haddonfield. Haddonfield will now be one of the hundreds of towns across the country coming together to demand an end to gun violence by uniting in solidarity and wearing the color orange.
On January 21, 2013, Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year old high school student from Chicago, marched in President Obama’s inaugural parade. One week later, she was shot and killed. Orange is the color that a group of Hadiya’s friends chose to wear in remembrance. It’s the color that hunters wear to in the woods to protect themselves and others. What started as a local celebration of Hadiya’s life in Chicago has turned into a nationwide movement to honor all lives cut short by gun violence.
America has twenty times the rate of gun violence than other developed nations. Every day, more than 90 people die in this country from gun violence. I’ve gotten involved with this movement because I’m a mom. This is not a political issue. This is a public safety issue.
On Thursday, June 2, the Philadelphia skyline — and skylines across America — will turn orange. The Camden City Mayor’s Office and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America will hold a prayer walk and family event in Elijah Perry Park at 9th Street and Ferry Avenue in Camden from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Please consider supporting this effort. Join us on June 2 and bring friends. Wear orange, tweet #WearOrange and consider attending the South Jersey Moms Demand Action meetings on the first Thursday of each month in the Collingswood Public Library.
Thank you,
Shani Nuckols
