OXFORD, Mich. – As the one-year anniversary of the deadly Oxford High School shooting approaches, survivor Zoe Touray, 18, launched an initiative to unite school-based gun violence victims.
The initiative’s first project is set to focus on survivors of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
After attending a gun violence rally in Austin, Texas, Touray launched Survivors Embracing Each Other. The program collaborates with mental health experts, education professionals, advocates and parents to create long-term relationships survivors can count on.
The Uvalde shooting occurred six months after the Oxford High School shooting and Oxford survivors found themselves reliving the experience all over again.
“I just remember having, you know, like, jump out of the window and like, the feelings that we all felt when I was with friends,” Touray said. “I remember all the different friends that I was with and all the things that we were thinking at the time -- losing your friends.”
Touray, along with over 20 other survivors, parents, and teachers are traveling to Uvalde to bring the community all of the things that comforted them in their time of need.
The Oxford community is bringing therapy dogs, games, crafts, food, and blankets that they have been making over the past few months, to bring comfort to the Robb Elementary students and families.
“Even though it’s just a blanket, it’s not just a blanket to our kids and we want them to know . . . people understand what they’re going through,” Oxford High School teacher Nicole Barnett said. “And if we can’t hug you, maybe we can wrap this blanket around you.”
The event will take place on Nov. 19 at the Sergeant DeLeon Civic Center in Uvalde, Texas. Donations for this event and events are being accepted here. For the GoFundMe link, click here.