Friday, June 4, 2021, will mark the seventh annual "National Gun Violence Awareness Day" which is held every first Friday in June to honor and remember all of the victims and survivors of gun violence and also to support efforts to prevent gun violence.

National Gun Violence Awareness Day kicks off Wear Orange Weekend, June 4th - 6th, an event held annually in honor of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old who was shot and killed in Chicago in 2013, just one week after performing at President Obama’s 2nd inaugural parade. Orange is the color that Hadiya’s friends wore in her honor. Since then orange has been the defining color of the gun violence prevention movement and has been worn throughout the nation in support of a gun-violence-free future.

Community members are encouraged to participate in Wear Orange Weekend by wearing orange on June 4th - 6th in support of the gun violence prevention movement and to share photos on social media using the hashtag #WearOrange.