March For Our Lives

Hey John,

Hatred and violence against our Asian American and Pacific Islander siblings across the country is unacceptable. We are not helpless in the wake of these tragedies. We have the power to change the circumstances that led to these senseless murders and deep loss. We must be in solidarity with the Asian-American community, and March For Our Lives is fully committed to ending gun violence caused by armed white supremacy.

My name’s Ariel Hobbs and I’m a Programs Coordinator at March For Our Lives. (TL;DR I find creative ways for MFOL to partner with different people.) Over the past few years, I’ve seen how critical mutual aid programs are for BIPOC communities that face systemic inequalities. That’s why we’re excited to announce Aid & Alliance -- a resource-sharing program to re-center violence-prevention work at the community level. The creation and rollout of this program was led in part by Black women organizers (me and Thandiwe 💖) and I could not be more proud to be a part of this. We’re kicking this off with events all over the country and opening applications for grants to youth-led BIPOC orgs.

LEARN MORE ABOUT AID & ALLIANCE

Aid & Alliance is part of March For Our Lives’ larger transformative justice process to build an inclusive movement based on lived experience and solidarity. We understand that March For Our Lives initially received a huge amount of international media, while other communities with a sustained gun violence problem don’t even get a headline. To end gun violence in America, we want to stop ALL types of shootings and address the conditions that cause people to turn to guns.

So Aid & Alliance will give away funds making sure our work is hyper-localized and helpful to the people who are already doing the work. BIPOC youth organizers nationwide can receive direct mutual aid, and organizations in 8 cities can apply for grants. These 8 cities were informed by our Data Director (and current student) Tej Gokhale, though an index he created that determines where targeted grants can have a meaningful impact and where they’re needed most.

APPLY FOR A GRANT HERE

To get it started (and commemorate our third birthday -- three years since we got together to march on D.C. and around the world), we’re hosting mutual aid events across the country! Events are led by MFOL chapters and local partner organizations to distribute resources -- like groceries, transit cards, and PPE -- to be in solidarity with communities facing hardships during this difficult time that can contribute to the epidemic of gun violence. We hope to see you there! 👋

YOU’RE INVITED!

We have events in 43 places, which include:

March 20: Chapel Hill, NC; Dallas, TX
March 21: Boone, NC; Great Falls, MT; Houston, TX; Laramie, WY; Lexington, NC; Livingston, MT; Madison, WI; Newark, DE; Wilmington, NC
March 22: Boca Raton, FL; Butte, MT; Helena, MT
March 23: Billings, MT; Birmingham, AL; Bozeman, MT; Lilburn, GA; Missoula, MT; Palmdale, CA
March 24: Hackensack, NJ; Philadelphia, PA
March 26: Providence, RI
March 27: Brockton, MA; Lexington, KY; Phoenix AZ

One last thing: I want to reiterate that this is all about taking the privilege that March For Our Lives has received and redistributing some of these funds to BIPOC organizations that are leading this fight right alongside us. Our goal is to build strong and genuine relationships between MFOL chapters and local organizations to create a lasting impact in communities struggling with gun violence.

Thank you for sticking with us and allowing us to put our money where our mouth is and support those who need it most.

In solidarity,
Ariel Hobbs
Programs Coordinator
March For Our Lives

March For Our Lives
P.O. Box 8929
Coral Springs, FL 33075
United States

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Contributions will benefit March For Our Lives Action Fund, a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. Contributions or gifts to March for Our Lives Action Fund are not deductible for federal income tax purposes as charitable contributions. Update your donation information here.