NORTH LITTLE ROCK- The Stop the Violence organization is partnering with a student from North Little Rock High School to reach more young people, after a North Little Rock teen was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in January.
North Little Rock High School Sophomore Greg Fudge is turning a tragedy into triumph. He planned a Stop the Violence Peace Walk in memory of his friend and classmate, 17-year-old Jasmine Young, who was killed in a drive by shooting. Now he's taking that walk another step by encouraging other teens to fight crime. "Show the youth there's an alternative to solve problems without violence."
Fudge is creating a Stop the Violence Youth Work Group. Stop the Violence Director Walter Crockran says the goal is to spread a message of hope, faith, and love to the youth. "There's more to life than violence, and we want to be their support."
Fudge says he wants to get his peers involved in making the community safer. "I feel we give up on our kids too quickly. Not every kid is going to be an easy person to get to, but we shouldn't just give up on them."
President and Founder of Stop the Violence, Rev. Benny Johnson, says he's impressed and proud of Fudge for seeking ways to help keep kids from getting killed. "He's concerned about his peers, he's concerned about his community, and he's concerned about the violence that's going on."
The combined teams say with joined efforts they expect to be more visible, have more activities, reach more people, and hopefully save more lives.
Stop the Violence and the Youth Work Group are looking for teenagers to join. The next planned events are a Stop the Violence conference on March 23rd, and a Youth Revival April 14-15.
