Local professional sports teams the Washington Capitals, Commanders, Mystics, Nationals, Spirit, Wizards and D.C. Shadow announced a combined donation of more than $85,000 to gun violence prevention nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety. Funds will support Everytown’s Community Safety Fund, providing a direct investment in community-based violence intervention, grassroots programs and advocacy operating in the region.
Teams will also use their social media and other fan outreach platforms to encourage community members to learn more and to donate to the fund using give.nats4good.org/SafeDCNow.
Beginning today, National Gun Violence Awareness Day, teams currently in season will utilize their individual platforms to raise awareness across their fan bases. Collectively, this includes combinations of the following:
- Inviting fans to donate to Everytown for Gun Safety’s Community Safety Fund
- Social media takeovers, including orange avatars and statistics and data on the effects of gun violence in the community
- Special warm-up clothing with orange accents and gun violence prevention messaging
- Donating proceeds from select sales and events to Everytown for Gun Safety’s Community Safety Fund
Gun Violence Awareness Day is also known as Wear Orange Day. Wear Orange began on June 2, 2015—what would have been Hadiya Pendleton’s 18th birthday.
On January 21, 2013, Hadiya Pendleton marched in President Obama’s second inaugural parade. One week later, Hadiya was shot and killed on a playground in Chicago.
Soon after this tragedy, Hadiya’s childhood friends decided to commemorate her life by wearing orange, the color hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves and others.
