Archive for May 17th, 2012
Trayvon Martin
Just as something positive eventually came out of the death of Rachel Joy Scott during the Columbine High School massacre the aftermath of the recent killing of Trayvon Martin by ‘neighbourhood watch’ volunteer George Zimmerman has shown how generous and compassionate people can be when faced with evidence of others’ suffering and need.
Aware that Trayvon’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, had understandably used up a lot of leave from her government job, following her son’s death, many of her fellow government employees have been donating spare vacation time, with a total value of nearly $41,000, and equivalent to 34 paid weeks off. One employee gave a whole week’s worth of his vacation, and even the deputy mayor chipped in. In all, 192 people have contributed in this way.
A Foundation has also been set up, to channel the large amount of funds that are being donated. In March Trayvon’s parents created the Justice for Trayvon Martin Foundation, because they didn’t want to appear to be profiting from their son’s death. However, as employees of the non-profit, they will be receiving payment to cover their legitimate expenses, as they travel around speaking and carrying out advocacy work. Last week they were even invited to London to speak, such is the interest in the case. Their plan is to raise a total of $1.5 million to set up teaching programmes, to bring conflict resolution to teenagers.
Last Sunday was Mother’s Day in the USA (and a number of other countries) and Trayvon’s mother released the following video:
