On Saturday mornings, D’Andra Green packs a wagon and cart with lunches she’s made and takes a bus from her home in the University West neighborhood to downtown Tampa to feed the homeless.
It’s part of SEANS Love Project, an initiative Green launched earlier this year in memory of the son she lost to gun violence six years ago.
“It’s just a small thing that I do,” Green says. “I’m trying to build it up and hopefully turn it into a nonoprofit soon. It’s just three people right now. But you know small things do big things. You don’t have to have much to help. That’s what I want people to know. All you need is a will to help your fellow man.”
On Saturday, July 20th, SEANS Love Project hosts its first community event. “All 4 Peace: Unity in the Community” runs from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at University Park, 14015 N. 22nd St in Tampa. The event will raise awareness about the community issue of gun violence and introduce community members to organizations that can help them in times of crisis. There will also be a food distribution and activities like basketball and flag football.
“All 4 Peace is a way to let my community know that when bad things happen, there are people out there who will help,” Green says. “It’s also a way to get out there and enjoy each other as people. I believe we are all brothers and sisters under one roof. I truly believe that.”
SEANS Love Project is putting on the event in collaboration with two nonprofits focused on the issue of gun violence- Moms Demand Action and Rise Up for Peace. Green has been active with Moms Demand Action for three years.
“When I was looking for people who understood what I was going through, someone I could talk to, I was online looking up moms who’d lost their kids to murder and I came across them,” she recalls. “They have trauma groups I started going to. A year later, on my son’s birthday, I received a handmade card from them. That was the moment I knew those were the kind of people I wanted in my life. They remembered I was going through something on that day. That solidified it for me. Ever since then, I have been a volunteer.”
Gail Powell-Cope, the local lead for Moms Demand Action, says there are three under-resourced communities in Tampa particularly plagued by gun violence- East Tampa, Sulphur Springs and University West. Powell-Cope says Moms Demand Action has focused much of its efforts on East Tampa. With Saturday’s event, Green is reaching out to the University West community, Powell-Cope says.
“She wants to reach out to people affected by gun violence to let them know there are supports in the community, whether it's helping with the grieving process or helping survivors find their voice and share their story with other people,” Powell-Cope says.
For more information, go to SEANS Love Project.
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