We see this loss of momentum in our own pro-gun groups. While the MMM has the Bell Organization behind it, after the Moms have had their shopping spree in Washington, you have to wonder how long it will last.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/news/oregonian/00/06/nw_31ribbn13.frame
Anti-violence organization struggles
Ribbon of Promise, founded after the 1998 Springfield school shootings, has exhausted its finances
Tuesday, June 13, 2000
From The Associated Press
EUGENE -- Ribbon of Promise, an anti-violence organization that sprang to life in Springfield immediately after the 1998 shootings at Thurston High School, is facing an uncertain future with its finances exhausted and no new contributions lined up.
Ribbon of Promise officials are maintaining the organization's popular Web site on the Internet, and they're guiding a start-up chapter in Washington state. They hope eventually to have 160 other chapters across the United States and Canada.
But the organization needs thousands of dollars more to continue to distribute the organization's trademark blue ribbons and to push one of its core messages: Teens who have information about potential violence should speak up.
During the past two years, the organization has exhausted $173,000 in contributions, including $50,000 in seed money from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based in Princeton, N.J., and dedicated to health and health care across the country.
Without new money, there will be no more cross-country speaking engagements, no more developing new programs.
Supporter Hill Walker, co-director of the Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior at the University of Oregon, said students taking ownership of their schools is where Ribbon of Promise can have the most impact.
To sway students, Ribbon of Promise counts on its teen-driven program, By Kids 4 Kids (BK4K), which encourages students to put their friends' lives ahead of any fear of "getting involved." The group includes 16 teen-agers and dozens of volunteers at Springfield High School.
Cindy Brown, Ribbon of Promise executive director, says 25 schools across the country have expressed interest in starting a BK4K club.
Ribbon of Promise is a tougher sell at Thurston and in Littleton, Colo., both epicenters of school shootings.
Students and parents at Thurston High School -- where 15-year-old Kip Kinkel killed two students and wounded 25 on May 21, 1998 -- have pitched in to help Ribbon of Promise, but the school does not have a BK4K club.
"They have decided not to deal with it this year," Brown said. "When Thurston's ready, they will come aboard."
In Littleton, Ribbon of Promise supporter John Lietz, a Denver police officer, attributes the lack of interest in his community to the constant coverage of the Columbine High School shootings, which he says rubbed the community raw and left it unwilling to talk about any aspect of the tragedy, even how to prevent it.
Brown says Ribbon of Promise is delivering start-up chapter applications to interested schools in Denver, Pittsburgh and Santa Fe, N.M., and the organization this summer will contact more than 150 other communities that have asked about starting a chapter.
Ribbon of Promise chapters are required to designate a contact person, line up a minimum of 20 volunteers, establish a board of directors and adopt the organization's bylaws. Ten percent of any contributions made to a chapter must be returned to the Springfield office.
On the Net: Ribbon of Promise, www.ribbonofpromise.org.
Copyright 2000 Oregon Live.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/news/oregonian/00/06/nw_31ribbn13.frame
Anti-violence organization struggles
Ribbon of Promise, founded after the 1998 Springfield school shootings, has exhausted its finances
Tuesday, June 13, 2000
From The Associated Press
EUGENE -- Ribbon of Promise, an anti-violence organization that sprang to life in Springfield immediately after the 1998 shootings at Thurston High School, is facing an uncertain future with its finances exhausted and no new contributions lined up.
Ribbon of Promise officials are maintaining the organization's popular Web site on the Internet, and they're guiding a start-up chapter in Washington state. They hope eventually to have 160 other chapters across the United States and Canada.
But the organization needs thousands of dollars more to continue to distribute the organization's trademark blue ribbons and to push one of its core messages: Teens who have information about potential violence should speak up.
During the past two years, the organization has exhausted $173,000 in contributions, including $50,000 in seed money from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based in Princeton, N.J., and dedicated to health and health care across the country.
Without new money, there will be no more cross-country speaking engagements, no more developing new programs.
Supporter Hill Walker, co-director of the Institute on Violence and Destructive Behavior at the University of Oregon, said students taking ownership of their schools is where Ribbon of Promise can have the most impact.
To sway students, Ribbon of Promise counts on its teen-driven program, By Kids 4 Kids (BK4K), which encourages students to put their friends' lives ahead of any fear of "getting involved." The group includes 16 teen-agers and dozens of volunteers at Springfield High School.
Cindy Brown, Ribbon of Promise executive director, says 25 schools across the country have expressed interest in starting a BK4K club.
Ribbon of Promise is a tougher sell at Thurston and in Littleton, Colo., both epicenters of school shootings.
Students and parents at Thurston High School -- where 15-year-old Kip Kinkel killed two students and wounded 25 on May 21, 1998 -- have pitched in to help Ribbon of Promise, but the school does not have a BK4K club.
"They have decided not to deal with it this year," Brown said. "When Thurston's ready, they will come aboard."
In Littleton, Ribbon of Promise supporter John Lietz, a Denver police officer, attributes the lack of interest in his community to the constant coverage of the Columbine High School shootings, which he says rubbed the community raw and left it unwilling to talk about any aspect of the tragedy, even how to prevent it.
Brown says Ribbon of Promise is delivering start-up chapter applications to interested schools in Denver, Pittsburgh and Santa Fe, N.M., and the organization this summer will contact more than 150 other communities that have asked about starting a chapter.
Ribbon of Promise chapters are required to designate a contact person, line up a minimum of 20 volunteers, establish a board of directors and adopt the organization's bylaws. Ten percent of any contributions made to a chapter must be returned to the Springfield office.
On the Net: Ribbon of Promise, www.ribbonofpromise.org.
Copyright 2000 Oregon Live.