The second annual Wear Orange for National Gun Violence Awareness Day will be Thursday, June 2nd!

— UPDATE —

The Korean Veterans Bridge, Courthouse, and State Capitol will all be lit in orange on June 2nd!

More than 30,000 Americans die every year due to gun violence. That’s an average of 91 Americans every day. Here in Tennessee and most notably in our cities, we are all painfully aware of gun violence, especially youth violence. From Memphis, to Nashville, to Chattanooga and Knoxville, the news reports shooting after shooting. Additionally, we are plagued by firearm suicides (600 Tennesseans per year use a gun to take their lives according to the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network), and accidental shootings (Tennessee is 9th in the nation for accidental shootings according to the CDC). Last year, nine Tennessee children were killed as a result of access to a loaded, unsecured firearm.

This year, the Safe Tennessee Project will once again participate in the Wear Orange campaign for National Gun Violence Awareness Day to draw attention to the issue of gun violence and to honor far too many lives cut short.

One of those lives was 15- year old Hadiya Pendleton, who was shot and killed in a Chicago park near her high school.

A group of Chicago teens wanted to honor the life of their friend and inspired the Wear Orange campaign. They asked friends and family to wear orange, a color worn by hunters in the woods to protect themselves and others. What started in their high school has grown into a national movement, and on June 2nd – what would have been Hadiya’s 19th birthday – people nationwide will again come together to show their support for an America free from gun violence.

Less than two months ahead of the second National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 2, the Wear Orange campaign recently announced that a dozen prominent national media brands – plus a series of iconic landmarks, State Capitols and City Halls across the country – will turn orange this June 2.

We would love to see cities in the Volunteer State join other cities throughout the country who have pledged to get involved! Over 50 US mayors have already signed on to participate. Last year, President Obama joined celebrities like Julianne Moore, Russell Simmons, Michael Stipe, and even the New York Mets (just to name a few) who wore orange June 2nd. Many cities lit their landmarks in orange.

Other organizations getting involved with Wear Orange 2016:

Viacom and its brands will lend extensive support to the Wear Orange campaign, tailoring efforts to the company’s unique audiences in the run up to National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 2, 2016

Viacom will donate on-air PSA inventory across several networks during the month of May, as well as its giant screens in Times Square ahead of and on June 2.

MTV, BET and VH1 will turn orange on June 2, making their on-air logos orange and featuring network talent wearing orange, promoting #WearOrange on social media platforms, lending news coverage and encouraging employees to participate.

Paramount will light the iconic water tower on its Hollywood lot orange the evening of June 2 and encourage employees to participate and wear orange.

Five national women’s magazines—Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Essence, Marie Claire and Women’s Health have all signed on to take part in Wear Orange 2016. More details on their participation will be announced in the weeks ahead.

Bad Robot, a production company formed by filmmaker J.J. Abrams, will light the Bad Robot Tower above their Santa Monica headquarters orange on June 2nd in honor of the second National Gun Violence Awareness Day.

Wear Orange has been accepted as an official lighting partner by the Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago and this year key buildings and landmarks will turn orange on June 2 in cities across the country including the famous Zakim Memorial Bridge in Boston, Coit Tower in San Francisco, The Durst Organization’s One Bryant Park and 4 Times Square in New York City, the Civil Courts Building in St. Louis, One Lyon Place in White Plains, State Capitols in Harrisburg and Providence as well as City Halls in Brockton, Hoboken and San Francisco. People who want to help turn their city’s skylines orange can visit http://www.wearorange.org/skyline to find out more information on how to get involved.

Continuing to build in year two, over 80 partners are already on board to Wear Orange including a strong showing of support from the faith community with groups like Bishops United Against Gun Violence, Social Action Commission African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), Faith in Public Life, Jewish Women International and Rabbis Against Gun Violence. In addition, national membership organizations such as National Urban League, American Psychological Association will be participating on June 2. More partners and supporters are likely to be announced in the weeks ahead.