John, the first day of school is always really difficult for me.

Yesterday, I started my senior year of high school. I should have been posing for first-day photos with my little brother Daniel and driving him to school. But none of that happened – because he was murdered in his first-grade classroom almost seven years ago.

I still feel the pain of losing my brother every single day – the grief never stops. But I don't just feel sad – I'm also afraid. Most people go through life thinking "it could never happen to me." But I know that it could, because it happened to Daniel. I could be in the most relaxing place and still worry that someone with a gun could come up and shoot me.

I want all the kids out there – myself included – to feel safe in their classrooms. That's why I started doing activism at my school and with my dad's organization, Sandy Hook Promise. I still get anxiety about it, but I remain committed because I feel like if we don't step up and take action now, more kids like Daniel could die.

But right now, Sandy Hook Promise is $194,885 short of securing every dollar of their critical match to expand their lifesaving programs this school year. As a kid going back to school, I have to ask you personally: Can I count on you to donate right now, before the Thursday deadline, to help honor my brother and have your gift doubled to protect more children from gun violence?

Please rush $10, or as much as you can, to Sandy Hook Promise right now. Your donation will go twice as far to help prevent the next school shooting, so we just can't afford to fall short of this match goal.

I'm still kind of new to activism, and honestly, a lot of it is very emotionally draining and stressful for me. But at the end of the day, I feel like I have to do it to make our country safer, and to honor my little brother by protecting other children like him from gun violence.

Thank you for helping me and Sandy Hook Promise do that today.

Natalie Barden (Daniel's sister)

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