John, when Ms. Clements asked me to email you about supporting Teachers Unify, I immediately knew how important this was, both to me and for our future generations… because on December 14th, 2012, I was in her 2nd grade classroom at Sandy Hook Elementary School on that awful day when tragedy struck our beautiful town of Newtown.

I was only 7, relying on one of my favorite teachers to keep us safe and facing the loss of another – Ms. Soto. These educators were important to me, always made sure that us students felt important, and emphasized the importance of kindness, compassion, and being our best selves. Ms. Soto died trying to keep her classroom of first graders alive.

So it concerns me that teachers’ voices still aren’t being heard in the conversation about the current gun violence epidemic in this country.

I’ve spent my adolescence trying to make my voice heard, too – and every time I hear about another school shooting, it feels like I failed.

Thoughts and prayers are not enough. It does not replace the heartache and grief a community and family is facing. How could we let something so similar to what happened to me… happen again?

That’s why I want to help Teachers Unify. Ms. Clements and her team work every day to change this national conversation, help teachers become advocates, and pass laws to keep all of us safer.

But they’re also regular educators – not professional fundraisers. They need help from people like you to keep their work going.

So I have to ask you personally, John: Is there any way you could donate $5, $15, even $25 to Teachers Unify right now to help them keep fighting for educators’ voices to be heard and finally end gun violence in our schools and communities?