As CeaseFirePA’s Organizing Manager, I’m tasked with helping to run the show at Advocacy Day – and on top of that I’m currently on my way from Southeast PA to Harrisburg to help paint the Capitol orange. 

My team and I got up at the crack of dawn to arrive at the Capitol early to welcome six busloads packed to the gills with our advocates. We’re that strange mix of exhausted but also energized for a powerful day to come. I'm taking a minute to check in with you, and all of our advocates who couldn’t make it in-person today.

Five hundred people are about to flood the Capitol in orange shirts to watch two more life-saving¹ bills² come up for House floor debates and final votes today. We will also call on the PA Senate to pass three bipartisan, House-approved bills to reduce gun violence and safeguard all our homes and communities.

We all wish you were here with us, but there is still a way for you to stand with us from home. Click here to send your lawmakers a quick note telling them you are part of our movement gathered today, and demanding they support life-saving legislation to stop gun violence across our Commonwealth. 

We have a packed agenda today, and I am so honored to be with this team right now, getting to know our volunteers and captains on the way to Harrisburg. Everyone here today has a personal story — their “why” for getting involved in our gun violence prevention. 

The sad truth is that many of us have a deep familiarity with gun violence in Pennsylvania, and the painful way it ripples through our communities. But all of us heading to Harrisburg together to stand up for our right to safety is nothing short of inspiring. 

I want to be very clear here: even though you can’t be with us in person, you are an integral part of our movement and of Advocacy Day. We all contribute in the ways that we can, and I need you on my team right now. So, will you please take a minute to tell your lawmakers that you’re part of our “Orange Wave” and you demand they take action to protect all of us from gun violence?

Thank you for joining us virtually,
Carol Lastowka
Organizing Manager
CeaseFirePA Action

PS – We will be live-streaming our rally on Facebook at 12:00 p.m. EDT. Please join us by clicking here.

¹https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/billinfo.cfm?syear=2023&sind=0&body=H&type=B&bn=2206 

² https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2023&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=0335