Hey, John,

We cannot express our gratitude enough. Thank you for all of the ways that you support the work that we do to prevent gun violence in Wisconsin. Thank you for showing up and for making a difference. Here are a few things you helped us accomplish in 2021...

Together, WAVE staff, board members, volunteers, and supporters promoted lifesaving public policy; engaged citizens, supporters, youth, and coalition partners; and developed public awareness about gun violence in Wisconsin.

We worked to advance background checks on gun sales, extreme risk protection orders (ERPO), and the prohibition of domestic violence misdemeanants from possessing firearms, and we worked to block the gun lobby's efforts to expand their guns for everyone, everywhere agenda. We also advocated for funding for community-level gun violence intervention and prevention programs (e.g., street interruption and hospital-based intervention programs), and we won! In Wisconsin, millions of dollars are being allocated to these violence intervention and prevention programs. WAVE members participated in so many powerful virtual events -- including educational programs about the National Rifle Association (NRA), the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); virtual performances and screenings, such as our benefit concert hosted by Linneman's Riverwest Inn, the Natural Shocks play, and the Summer of Soul film; and, most recently, our big biennial event -- WAVE's Citizen Day of Action to Prevent Gun Violence.

Over the summer, our 15 youth interns participated in online gun violence prevention education and advocacy! They cultivated strong friendships and developed useful skills. Check out their final two-day event here.

Visit our website or our Facebook page for more photos of WAVE members in action from throughout the year! 

We are in this together, and we're grateful to be working beside you.

From all of us at WAVE, we wish you a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Heidi, Deja, Kristina, Jacey, Mercedes, Jeri and the rest of the WAVE team

P.S. Do you want to know a really easy way you could help WAVE (and avoid stores during the pandemic on Black Friday and throughout the holiday season, too)? Just do your holiday shopping on AmazonSmile.com and support WAVE automatically, at no cost to you. Just click this link to select WAVE and start shopping. A percentage of every purchase you make will come right back to Wisconsin to help WAVE. It's a win-win!