Wear Orange Weekend drew large crowds in Trenton this Saturday, anchored by a Gun Violence Awareness march and the Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Rally, with a shared call to remember those lost to gun violence and to stand together for peace.
The Gun Violence Awareness march, hosted by Isles and its Trenton Community Street Team (TCST) and led by Perry Shaw, set out from the Trenton Housing Authority’s Donnelly Homes and wound through several Trenton neighborhoods to Cadwalader Park. Marchers were joined by community members, New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport and her team, Mayor Reed Gusciora, Trenton Councilwoman At-Large Crystal Feliciano, and Pastor Dr. Darrell LaRue Armstrong. Community partners VICTORY/Capital and Younity marched alongside the team, together with Moms Demand Action.
“Gun violence impacts more than individuals, it impacts families, neighborhoods, and our entire city,” said Perry Shaw, who leads TCST. “We marched to remember those we lost, those who survived, to heal, and to stand united in the belief that every life matters, every story matters, and every step toward peace matters.”
TCST is a community-based violence intervention and prevention initiative, part of Isles and run in partnership with Building A Better Way for Trenton. Using a public health approach that complements traditional policing, the team’s local outreach workers mediate disputes before they escalate, connect residents at highest risk to counseling and other support, help young people travel safely to and from school, and walk neighborhoods each month to hear directly from the community.
The march ended at Cadwalader Park, where Isles and TCST joined the Moms Demand Action Gun Sense Rally as an invited co-sponsor, alongside numerous other organizations. The rally was led by Trenton Councilwoman Teska Frisby, with County Executive Dan Benson, County Commissioner Cathleen Lewis, and Trenton Councilwoman Yazminelly Gonzalez.
The heart of the rally was the reading of the names of the 16 people killed by gun violence this year in Trenton and Mercer County. The list is shorter this year, progress that reflects the work of an entire public safety ecosystem that Isles is proud to be part of.
“Next year, we hope and pray there are no new names to read,” said Sean Jackson, CEO of Isles. “Getting there takes hard work and continued community support for this approach.”