Mayor Evans, County Executive Bello proclaim June 7-9 Gun Violence Awareness Day, Wear Orange Weekend

Mayor Malik D. Evans and Monroe County Executive Adam J. Bello proclaimed Friday, June 7 through Sunday, June 9 as Gun Violence Awareness Day and Wear Orange Weekend in Rochester and Monroe County, joining a national movement to associate gun violence with the color that hunters wear to protect human life. Gun Violence Awareness Day and Wear Orange Weekend are recognized each year by communities across the country on the first Friday and weekend of June. 

City and County leaders joined dozens of community members representing ROC Against Gun Violence Coalition, Moms Demand Action, Rise Up Rochester, Pathways to Peace, the Rochester Peace Collective, and others outfitted in orange on Saturday to read the joint proclamation and announce a citywide End Gun Violence pledge to enhance community collaborations against gun violence.  

“The City of Rochester and the County of Monroe are committed to ending gun violence together with our law enforcement agencies at the local, state, and federal levels and our host of devoted community partners, including ROC Against Gun Violence Coalition, Moms Demand Action, Rise Up Rochester, Pathways to Peace, and the Rochester Peace Collective,” the Mayor and County Executive stated in the joint City-County Proclamation. “We call on the people of Rochester and Monroe County to wear orange this weekend and to come together as one community to heal, offer comfort, promote gun safety, honor the lives lost to gun violence, and join the movement to abolish gun violence.”  

The wear-orange movement was initially conceived by the classmates of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendelton of Chicago, who was shot and killed on a school playground one week after marching in President Barack Obama’s inauguration parade.

The ROC Against Gun Violence Coalition seeks to end gun violence in Rochester by bringing attention to the root causes and effects of gun violence and promoting improved quality of life in Rochester's neighborhoods. The Coalition is made up of several community partners and stakeholders who are working to end gun violence.  

Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a national grassroots advocacy agency with a chapter in Monroe County, and it has played a leading role in promoting the message across the country.  

Rise Up Rochester, Incorporated is a nonprofit that empowers the community to establish and maintain a nonviolent culture and provides support to crime victims and their families. 

Pathways to Peace is a street-level team that provides support and nonviolent alternatives for youth who are resorting to violence to settle disputes or becoming involved in gangs and drugs.

The members of the City’s Pathways to Peace team are available to help safeguard the lives of these youth, trained to diffuse potentially violent situations, and help them get on track to a better life.  

The City’s Rochester Peace Collective guides investments in innovative and proven programs that work to prevent violent crime by collaborating with community-based organizations and agencies working in the fields of conflict resolution, youth development, re-entry, and violence prevention.