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8th Grade Students Design Anti-Gun Violence Shirts With Victim's Names

By Dominic Garcia

DENVER (CBS4) - A group of students at McAuliffe International School in Denver are coming together to raise awareness about gun violence.

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(credit: CBS)

They asked local community members, elected officials and students to join them on March 14 when they plan to walk out of school and spend 17 minutes in silence… one minute for each of the 17 people killed in Parkland, Florida.

Florida Town Of Parkland In Mourning, After Shooting At Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Kills 17
A young girl sits at a temporary memorial at Pine Trails Park on February 17, 2018 in Parkland, Florida. Police arrested former student Nikolas Cruz and charged him with 17 murders for the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14. (credit: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

"I just want everyone to realize how often this has happened, and how many people have been affected by it," said 8th grader Stephanie Danahey.

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Stephanie Danahey, Izzy Carabetter and Elliot Guiness. (credit: CBS)

Danahey and two of her friends, Elliot Guinness and Izzy Carabetta, came up with an idea to sell T-shirts to raise awareness about gun violence. On them are the names of victims of some of the worst mass shootings in the United States.

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They include, Columbine, the Las Vegas shooting, the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando and the most recent one in Parkland, Florida. The students say designing them was an emotional experience.

"It was so many names, I had no idea. I was typing them all and was on the verge of tears. I was really sad. I felt like really connected because that could be one of us," said Carabetta.

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The students say they've already raised more than $2,000 and plan to donate it to the Giffords Law Center to prevent gun violence. They hope their walk out and T-shirts will send a message that their generation wants something done about gun violence.

"We can't vote, but we can use our voices and our voices are very powerful," said Carabetta.

Additional Resources

Visit a special section of philanthropyproject.com to order a shirt.

Dominic Garcia anchors CBS4 News at 5 p.m. and reports for CBS4 News at 10 p.m. Connect with the Denver native on Twitter @cbs4dom & on Facebook.

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