Commemorating National Gun Violence Awareness Day and Remembering our Mission

Today, as we commemorate National Gun Violence Awareness Day, our communities are reeling from a series of tragic events – Buffalo, Uvalde, and now, Tulsa, among the many others. These tragedies serve as a reminder of how imperative it is to find solutions that will prevent future lives lost to gun violence.  Please join us in supporting and representing National Gun Violence Awareness.  

Ten years ago, teenager Hadiya Pendleton was shot and killed on a playground in Chicago.  Soon after this tragedy, Hadiya’s childhood friends decided to commemorate her life by wearing orange, the color hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves and others.  Since Hadiya’s 18th birthday, June 2, 2015, “Wear Orange” has expanded to period of three days, starting the first Friday of every June, known as National Gun Violence Awareness Day and weekend. 

This year’s events include silent survivor walks, marches, blood drives, community building projects and mural painting, highway cleanups, art exhibitions, and charity runs. At Evolv, many of us will participate in these types of events and we wear orange today to support this important awareness day.  We believe that safety should be a basic human right.  We come to work each day with a deep sense of purpose to make the places where we work, learn, and play safer – with a focus this month on schools.  

When our children are at risk in an environment where they should only focus on learning and fun, it is unthinkable. The threat of violence in schools is personal for all of us here at Evolv.  My daughter is a second-grade teacher and has been now for over eight years. Each tragic headline about an attack on a school sends my mind racing with "what if" scenarios that never fully fade. This issue haunts me as a dad, as a human, and as the CEO of a company focused on keeping weapons out of all the places where they do not belong. 

Every school has policies prohibiting weapons on campus, but the ability to enforce those policies can be incredibly limited. Schools that can afford to install conventional walk-through metal detectors risk creating a prison-like environment that makes students feel like criminals and induces fear and anxiety and creates long lines and chaos each morning.   

And, worse yet, we’ve heard stories that when the morning bell is about to ring and the security line is backed up out the door, some will just turn the metal detectors off and wave all the students in without any screening at all.  Sadly, this is not uncommon. 

Vulnerable students, teachers, and staff deserve more. 

This is why we formed GiveEvolv, our charitable organization that helps keep schools safe through need-based donations of weapons detection systems. The available resources to address the threat to schools are heartbreakingly scarce. Weapons detection will not solve the problem of school shootings, but as part of a layered strategy that involves people, process and technology, it can help keep schools safer, reduce threats and increase peace of mind so our teachers and students can focus on education.  

Please visit our GiveEvolv website today and nominate a school you feel should receive a grant from us. Our mission is to make the places where we work, learn, and play safe, and keeping students safe in schools is paramount.