The Strides for Peace Junior Board shared its mission to empower gun violence prevention in Chicago at Gathering on Monday.

Strides for Peace seeks to improve public safety by providing civic engagement opportunities. Sophomore Kaitlyn Rosen, and juniors Cece Burt and Finn Parr’s presentation noted a decline of gun violence in Chicago since 2020 amid national efforts to prevent firearm fatalities. However, they emphasized that gun deaths remain a serious concern and over 3,000 shootings occurred within 500 yards of Chicago school buildings last year.

“We wanted to give background information to the Latin community so everyone would be better informed of the seriousness of this topic,” Cece said. “We wanted everyone to understand Stride’s mission.”

The board members encouraged Upper School students to participate in the Race Against Gun Violence on June 4 in Grant Park. Runners’ donations go directly to the organization they choose to partner with.