Thursday: "Wear Orange" Campaign To Turn America Orange For National Gun Violence Awareness Day

CHICAGO, May 31, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Wear Orange campaign (www.WearOrange.org) today announced that on Thursday more than 400 influencers, corporations, mayors, partner organizations and a series of iconic landmarks across the country including the Empire State Building will participate in the second annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day.

Wear Orange was inspired by friends of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old Chicago high school student killed by gunfire, who decided to honor her life by wearing orange – the color hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves and others.

"June 2 is Hadiya's birthday and it's an emotional day for our family and friends—and unfortunately far too many other families in our community," said Nate and Cleo Pendleton, whose daughter Hadiya Pendleton was shot and killed in Chicago, founders of Hadiya's Promise, a Wear Orange coalition partner. "We started Hadiya's Promise and chose her birthday as the day for National Gun Violence Awareness Day to celebrate her spirit and to give everyone who has been personally affected by gun violence a day to celebrate their loved ones along with us. Seeing the Wear Orange coalition continue to grow and the Orange message spread to millions of people across the country brings us hope—hope that we can and will bring change to our communities and see a future free of gun violence—that is what Orange is all about."

Events to celebrate National Gun Violence Awareness day, coined Orange meet-ups, will happen all over the country on Thursday, June 2. These events will bring people together to showcase the full creativity of Orange supporters—from concerts to picnics in the park to Orange walks and meetings at local landmarks as they turn orange. All events are searchable via an online map (available here) and easy to track on June 2 by following the #WearOrange hashtag.

About Wear Orange

In 2013, a small group of teens at a South Side Chicago high school asked their classmates to honor the life of their murdered friend Hadiya Pendleton by wearing orange – the color hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves and others and a color that reflects the value of human life.  They inspired the Wear Orange campaign (wearorange.org), a coalition of more than 200 non-profits, cultural influencers and elected officials working to reduce gun violence in America. Spearheaded by Everytown for Gun Safety, the campaign asks Americans who believe we can do more to save lives from gun violence to do one simple thing on June 2, National Gun Violence Awareness Day: Wear Orange. Those who wear orange pledge to honor the lives of Americans stolen by gun violence, to help keep firearms out of dangerous hands and to protect our children from gun violence.  Wear Orange has already reached more than 220 million people worldwide and is fast becoming the symbol of the gun violence prevention movement.

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