Hundreds expected at March for Lives Rally

WEST CHESTER»Chester County students are hard at work organizing the March for Lives Rally, Saturday, at the historic courthouse.

Organizers expect hundreds to attend the Chester County event to support the Washington demonstration. The local rally is one of more than 500 sister-rallies nationwide, which were organized almost completely by students to make classmates safer and end gun violence.

Downingtown STEM Academy seniors Izzy Hessler and Simarjeet Kaur are helping organize the West Chester rally.

“Students are working together to accomplish something adults couldn’t,” Hessler said. “It’s really important that this be collaborative with adults and with those who are currently in power so they can change current legislation and we can make change right now.”

Kaur said she is amazed by the passion of a fourth grader she recently met, along with so many other concerned students.

“It’s a lot of work--but knowing kids are going to make a change— it is the least we can do since this issue is so important.”

Mayor Dianne Herrin will speak at the rally.

“The leadership of these students is nothing short of fantastic” Herrin said. “They see that our state and federal legislators who hold the power have failed them, but instead of giving up, they are demanding the change that should have happened a long time ago.

“The students have a right to be safe in our schools and in our communities, and I am very proud of their active citizenship.”

Kathi Cozzone, commissioner and candidate for Lt. Governor, will also address the demonstrators. She said it is amazing how hard students are working on the rally.

“If these kids are any indication of our future then I feel really good about the future of this world and our country,” Cozzone said.

State Rep. Carolyn Comitta, D-156, said students are addressing the issue with “a clarity we have not seen before.”

“I’m proud of our students,” Comitta said. “I’m proud to stand with them and for the first time I am really hopeful that we will be able to save lives.”

Comitta said that legislators in Harrisburg are listening.

“Many of us have been working on gun legislation for literally decades and have been unable to pass any significant legislation,”

she said. “It’s been a little over a month since the Stoneman Douglas shooting and significant gun legislation was passed in Florida.”

Prior to the legislative break, the State Senate voted to change gun laws, Comitta said. On April 9, the house will hold three days of hearings, and then likely vote on gun violence.

“And this is a first,” Comitta said.

Downingtown Mayor Josh Maxwell and nationally recognized studentpoet Juliet Lubwama will also take part.

All are invited. The public rally will take place on Sat. March 24, at noon, at the historic courthouse in West Chester.