June is National Gun Violence Awareness month, and every year, Wear Orange events throughout the country to honor the lives taken by gun violence and to elevate prevention awareness. 

Hadiya Pendleton was shot and killed after marching in President Obama’s second inaugural parade in 2013. Pendleton’s friends wore the color orange to commemorate her life. Orange is the color hunters wear to protect themselves from being shot. Each year, more than 43,000 people are killed and about 76,000 are wounded by guns in America, the Wear Orange website says. 

At the 2022 Wear Orange event at Island Park in Springfield, there were “600 orange flags representing 600 lives in the U.S. lost to mass shootings in 2022 as the breeze wove between each remembered life.” Moms Demand Action, a movement advocating for public safety measures protecting against gun violence, hosts Wear Orange events every June across the country. 

The June 7 Wear Orange Meet and Greet at Palace Bakery in Eugene is an opportunity for community members to learn about gun violence and join the movement. 

The bakery offers a $1 discount to those who wear the color orange on that day from 11 am to 2 pm. A biometric handgun safe, donated by a survivor, will be up for a giveaway. Then on Saturday, June 8, a Wear Orange Table will be at the Eugene Saturday Market from 10 am to 4 pm with information on the efforts of the movement and ways to get involved. 

Another biometric handgun safe drawing will occur at 3:30 pm. It was donated by a survivor who lost her son to suicide. The firearm was unsecured. The Wear Orange Campaign asks Americans who support ending gun violence to simply wear the color orange on the first Friday of June. 

Wear Orange Meet and Greet is 11 am to 2 pm June 7 at Palace Bakery, 842 Pearl Street. Wear Orange Table is 10 am to 4 pm June 8 at the Park Blocks, 8th Avenue and Oak Street. Both events are FREE. — Brianna Murschel

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