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- 10
children and teens die each day from gunfire in America, approximately
one every 2 1/2 hours.
- In a
single year, more children and teens die from gunfire than from cancer,
pneumonia, influenza, asthma, and HIV/AIDS combined.
-Children's
Defense Fund
The Taking Back
our Streets to SAVE our Children Citywide Billboard Campaign (215)
235-SAVE kicked off Thursday, March 11, 2004 at 12:00 noon at 27th and
Diamond Streets with the unveiling of one of the first billboards.
Each billboard
features the picture of a victim of an unsolved murder. Billboards are
strategically placed throughout the city and in close proximity to where
the crime took place. A reward is offered for anonymous information
related to the crime. Tips and information related to the crime can be
received through an anonymous tip line and through this website. This
section will feature pictures of the victims of the unsolved murders along
with a brief description of the crime. This website allows individuals to
provide anonymous information, and also provides information about
resources for victims and their families as well as information on the
programs and services offered by Mothers in Charge along with hyperlinks
to partnership organizations.
This Billboard Campaign is a
collaboration of the Philadelphia Police Commissioner, Sylvester Johnson,
Clear Channel Outdoor, Randy Brownley and Barbara Bridge, the Philadelphia
Daily News, Citizens Crime Commission, Imagegraphics Design,
Gointernet.net, private funder Kal Rudman and Divine Intervention
Ministries of Pittsburgh.
Mothers in Charge is a community-based
organization founded by Dorothy Johnson-Speight, a mother whose son was
murdered. Members of Mothers in Charge include concerned, compassionate,
impassioned mothers, grandmothers, aunts, and sisters who are committed to
working toward the goal of saving lives. Most of the members have
experienced the horror and pain of having a son, daughter or loved one
murdered. Mothers in Charge realizes that positive change cannot happen
within our community without first addressing the issue of the senseless
and random violence that exist in our neighborhoods and we know in the
names of our lost sons and daughters, and loved one that we must serve as
the catalyst for change "we can't bring our children and loved ones back,
but we can work to save the lives of others."
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