John–

Ten years ago—and less than a week after performing at President Obama's
second inauguration—our 15-year-old daughter Hadiya was shot and killed.
We were devastated by her death, and we've missed her every day for the
last decade.

But we have also been filled with hope. Year after year, people across the
country have come together to honor her and the hundreds of people killed
or wounded by gun violence in the United States every single day.

Today would have been Hadiya's 26th birthday. Now, it's the 9th annual
National Gun Violence Awareness Day and the beginning of Wear Orange
Weekend.

[ [link removed] ]To honor Hadiya and everyone affected by the gun violence crisis, join
our family by wearing orange today and all weekend long. Then post your
photo on social media with #WearOrange!

[ [link removed] ]WEAR ORANGE

Wear Orange got its start thanks to Hadiya's friends. In the aftermath of
her death, they launched Project Orange Tree to honor her life and raise
awareness about gun violence in our community. They asked all of us to
wear orange because hunters wear the color to warn other hunters not to
shoot—it's the color of safety that signals the need to protect each
other.

June 2, 2015—what would have been Hadiya's 18th birthday—became the very
first National Gun Violence Awareness Day. We now commemorate it on the
first Friday of every June as the start of Wear Orange Weekend.

We do this work every year because everyone in this country deserves a
future free from gun violence. And we wear orange to call for an end to
this crisis in all of its forms, including domestic violence, suicide, and
city gun violence. Whether it's worn by students in Montana, activists in
New York, or Hadiya's loved ones in Chicago, the color orange honors the
more than 120 lives cut short and the hundreds more wounded by gun
violence every day.

We have a lot of work left to do before our children are safe. But if the
last ten years have shown us anything, it's that we can save lives. We'll
honor our loved ones with action and cultivate hope for a better future.

[ [link removed] ]John, join us by wearing orange today for National Gun
Violence Awareness Day and all of Wear Orange Weekend. Use #WearOrange to
show how you're showing up for gun safety and encourage your friends to do
the same. Together, we can end this crisis.

Thank you for wearing orange and for being a part of this movement.

Cleopatra Cowley and Nate Pendleton
Parents of Hadiya Pendleton
Co-founders of Hadiya's Foundation, a 501c3 organization

P.S. If you are a survivor of gun violence or have a loved one who has
been wounded or killed by gun violence, [ [link removed] ]you can share your story on
Moments That Survive with the stories of other survivors of gun violence.
Please read [ [link removed] ]our Moments That Survive story about Hadiya.


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