FORT MILL – Grace Presbyterian Church, a PC(U.S.A.) congregation, will observe the 12th annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day on Friday, June 5th, 2026 with a display and candlelight memorial. The day also marks the beginning of Wear Orange Weekend in the United States.
The display honors the victims of gun violence in South Carolina in 2025. The lawn display will feature 110 frames with bright orange t-shirts each representing 10 people. 40 shirts, marked with an X, represent 404 people killed with a gun in South Carolina last year. 70 shirts represent 773 people who were injured with a gun in South Carolina last year.
Installation will take place at Grace Presbyterian Church (2955 W. Hwy 160, Fort Mill, SC 29708) on Friday followed by a 7 p.m. candlelight memorial. The display will remain throughout the weekend and event organizers are available for interviews.
2025 South Carolina Statistics (from thetrace.org)
- 1177 people were killed or injured with a gun
- 404 people were killed with a gun
- 773 people were injured with a gun
- 1 person was shot with a gun every 8 hours
About Wear Orange
On January 21, 2013, Hadiya Pendleton marched in President Obama’s second inaugural parade. One week later, Hadiya was shot and killed on a playground in Chicago. Soon after this tragedy, Hadiya’s friends commemorated her life by wearing orange, the color hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves and others.
Wear Orange honors Hadiya and the nearly 130 people shot and killed every day in the United States, along with the hundreds more who are wounded and the countless others whose lives have been changed by gun violence. Visit wearorange.org for more information.
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