More than at Virginia Tech, more than at Northern Illinois, one by one our boys and girls are dying on the streets, victims of gun violence. Twenty-four Chicago Public School children have been murdered so far this year. Rev. Renaldo Kyles, Interfaith Director for the Chicago Public Schools, spends much of his time going to funerals and consoling the families of the victims.
"My faith gets weak, it gets low. I should be spending more time partnering churches with schools to do more after-school programs, mentoring programs instead of spending my time going to funeral homes," said Kyles. He fears the city has become hardened to the losses.
Over the weekend my daughter, Monica, called me and said, "Mom, you should tune in WGCI. They're talking about the student killings and the kids are calling in to say what they need. They are saying they need safe places to go, to hang out and play basketball and dance."
I'm more motivated than ever to get our Breakthrough FamilyPlex built. That's exactly what the kids in our community need. Safety, activities, educational and job opportunities, sports, music, art and dance lessons. It is a matter of life and death for our kids.
1 comment:
Everyday as I walk home after work and see the kids hanging out on the streets, I am reminded that we do is so much more than just tutoring or basketball or whatever. The "smallest" thing as giving them a safe place to go for 3 hours afterschool becomes so much more than a "simple" answer, it really is (like you said) a matter of life and death.
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