Wear Orange campaign, launched early this year, asks participants to wear orange to raise awareness against gun violence.
The organizers of the National Gun Awareness Day are planning to flood pedestrian mall with orange. The event which will take place in Iowa will happen on Thursday, 11:30 a.m. According to CNN, the organizers choose the color orange as it easily attracts attention and can be seen from a distance.
The Wear Orange campaign organizers urged everybody to make a noise on social media as they'd post photos with the hashtag #WearingOrange. The participant is also encouraged to caption the photo with a reason as to why they support the Wear Orange campaign.
The Wear Orange campaign was started in commemoration of Hadiya Pendleton, 15, who was shot by a gang. Hadiya's friends then came up with Project Orange Tree wherein they made a plea to raise awareness and urged people to wear orange on Tuesday, which is Hadiya's 18th birthday.
Every Town Org highlighted the people behind Wear Orange campaign as their campaign against gun violence rapidly spread. Their gun violence awareness call was heard by several celebrities including Julianne Moore who posted her own photo with the hashtag #WearingOrange.
I’m #wearingorange because we can do more to stop gun violence. Go to https://t.co/6RKGqNxwwT to get involved. pic.twitter.com/2gNQB2FaTZ
— Julianne Moore (@_juliannemoore) June 2, 2015
Aside from Julianne Moore, celebrities including Sarah Silverman, Russell Simmons and the rest of New York Mets also participated in the campaign. The gun violence project which was started by Hadiya's friends rapidly spread and became an awareness phenomenon.
Wear Orange Campaign rapidly grew and reached millions of supporters worldwide. Press Citizen noted that 220 million people were able to hear about the Wear Orange awareness within 24 hours. The people who participated in the campaign included the US President Barack Obama.
Celebrating Hadiya Pendleton w/ her parents. Today would've been Hadiya's 18th birthday. #WearingOrange @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/Cy6N7skfZT — Derrick Young (@Derrickcyoung) June 2, 2015
Millions of people die from accidental firing each year and guns are one of the most used suicide weapons. Wear Orange campaign is a step forward in raising awareness on gun-related death causes and gun safety.
