Editor’s note: This story contains details of a mass casualty event and gun violence. The Chicago Sports Alliance, a collaboration of the Chicago-based professional sports teams with support from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, announced they would contribute $300,000 to the Robb School Memorial Fund and the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation with hopes of making a difference in the “gun violence epidemic.”
The Chicago sports teams, including the Bears, the Bulls, the Cubs, the White Sox and the Blackhawks, hope their solutions will help put an end to school shootings.
The Alliance’s contributions come after Tuesday’s shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. An 18-year-old gunman abandoned his vehicle, entered the school with a handgun and possibly a rifle and killed 21 people, including 19 children and two adults.
“Twenty-one smiles in Uvalde, Texas lost,” the statement read. “Days before that, 10 smiles in Buffalo, lost. … It is our responsibility to those innocent lives lost to do more.” The shooting in Uvalde, Texas marked the 27th school shooting in 2022 and the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook Elementary in December 2012 that left 28 people dead including 20 children between the ages of six and seven and two injured in Newtown, Connecticut.
The Sandy Hook Promise Foundation aims to end school shootings and “create a culture change that prevents violence and other harmful acts that hurt children.” Meanwhile, First State Bank of Uvalde created the Robb School Memorial Fund for families impacted by the tragedy.According to the announcement of their donation, “the Alliance was created to address the issue of increasing gun violence across the city of Chicago, dedicated to lending its collective influence and resources to support data-driven, proven solutions impacting the root cause of gun violence.” Each club committed $50,000.
In addition to the Alliance, the NBA’s Miami Heat advocated for gun reform with a pregame message ahead of their playoff matchup against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday. MLB’s Rays and the Yankees used their social media accounts during the opening game of their four-game series on Thursday to create awareness about gun violence following Tuesday’s shooting. The two teams also urged lawmakers to do more in gun law reform while the Rays donated $50,000 to the Everytown for Gun Safety’s Fund.
