Few of us have forgotten about what happened in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14th of last year. The tragic event at the Sandy Hook Elementary School left twenty children, four teachers and two administrators dead and none of us unaffected.
After the initial shock has settled, friends and neighbors gathered in a Newtown kitchen to support one another and somehow try to process what had happened. As they spoke, they realized they had a responsibility to honor the people they had lost, as well as the survivors. They made a promise to do whatever they could to not let this tragedy stand as just another in this country’s history.
This, Sandy Hook Promise was born, a non-profit with a mission “to support the families of the victims, the survivors, first responders and teachers and staff of the school as well as the community of Newtown, by providing financial and service support and assistance whenever possible and for as long as it takes for each individual to heal.”
In the future, SHP wants “to identify and implement holistic, common sense solutions that will make our community and our country safer from similar acts of violence through education, outreach and grass-roots discussion.” The organization “believes the time has come to enter into these discussions with equal parts of Love, Compassion, and Common Sense.”
The people of Newtown do not want their community to be remembered as a place where a horrible tragedy took place, but instead as the birthplace of lasting, meaningful change, “where we came together both as a community… and as a nation, and decided that we must do everything we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening again.”
Make the promise today, and encourage your friends and family to do the same.
Our hearts are broken;
Our spirit is not.
And it is with this knowledge
that we are able to move forward
with purpose… and strength…
This is a Promise
To support our own
our families, our neighbors, our teachers, our community
with dedication and love
as well as the material and financial needs they will require
in the days ahead.
This is a Promise
To truly honor the lives lost
by turning our tragedy into a moment of transformation.
This is a Promise
To be open to all possibilities.
There is no agenda other than to make
our community and our nation a safer, better place.
This is a Promise
To have the conversations on ALL the issues
Conversations where listening is as important as speaking.
Conversations where even those with the most opposing views
can debate in good will.
This is a Promise
To turn the conversation into actions.
Things must change.
This is the time.
This is a Promise
We make to our precious children.
Because each child, every human life is filled with promise,
and though we continue to be filled with unbearable pain
we choose love, belief, and hope
instead of anger.
This is a Promise
To do everything in our power to be remembered
not as the town filled with grief and victims;
but as the place where
real change began.
Our hearts are broken;
Our spirit is not.
This is our promise.
The Sandy Hook PROMISE
