Students and supporters plan to gather in downtown Rockford for their March For Our Lives event Saturday.
Event organizers say the march, which is a sister event to the national march held by Parkland shooting survivors, begins at 1 p.m. at the city parking lot next to Beattie Park and ends at Davis Park. A rally afterwards will include student activists, a spoken word artist, and Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara.
Event spokeswoman Carol Jambor-Smith says she hopes anticipated snow won’t put a damper on things, but she says she wouldn’t be surprised if about 250 people showed up for the march.
“This is part of the students beginning to say 'Enough,' and that we need to take responsibility to make sure that our community and legislators know that we’re serious about this,” Jambor-Smith said.
Jambor-Smith says she has heard people talk about sensible gun control for many years.
“But I think that this is a group of students who have grown up seeing school shootings and have finally said, ‘Well, now it’s our turn to step up and really be the voice for change,’” Jambor-Smith said.
Jambor-Smith says several local groups plan to join the student-led march, including Indivisible, Rockford Urban Ministries, and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.
Participants also will be able to register to vote at the rally.
A town hall meeting on gun violence is scheduled for April 4 at East High School in Rockford.