A number of organizations and individuals representing nonprofits and causes that sprung up among families and supporters following the Sandy Hook tragedy took to the airwaves, internet, and social networks with reactions to the February 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.The Newtown Bee has compiled a number of those public reactions and statements below.Dylan's Wings of ChangeJesse Lewis Choose Love MovementSafe And Sound SchoolsAna Grace Project Ben's LighthouseVicki Soto Memorial Fund, IncNewtown Action Alliance

The following was posted on the Facebook page for Dylan's Wings of Change, a cause established in the name of 12/14 victim Dylan Hockley:

How many more hearts must be broken? These tragedies touch us all, and one day it could be painfully close to any of us. Trust me, I know.

Please act. Our children are dying. Stand up, speak out. Be counted. Face down the spineless leadership of this country that allows this to happen time after time with little more than pathetic sound bites. We know why they don't act. Remove them.

Please reach out to the communities affected and tell them we love them. Make your communities safer with programs to build empathy, end isolation and silence hate. Thank you.

Scarlett Lewis, mother of 12/14 victim Jessie Lewis posted the following on the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement Facebook page:

My heart goes out to the parents of the Parkland victims. I know the agony and despair well, having your precious child viciously massacred in what is supposed to be a safe haven. There are no words. After every tragedy (hundreds of school shootings since Sandy Hook Elementary School and 18 so far this year) we react, argue, accuse, and become more fearful, yet this has done nothing to prevent these shootings.

I've spent the last five years since my 6-year-old was shot in his first grade classroom by a former student working on being part of the solution. I realized then, as I do now, that there is no-one "out there" that is going "fix" this. WE will have to mobilize and do it ourselves.

There is a solution that addresses the cause of this devastation. There is no controversy or divisiveness about it because it makes so much sense, and has decades of scientific research backing it up, proving its effectiveness. It's called Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). Scientific research proves SEL increases academic performance while decreasing violence, substance abuse and incarceration.

In fact, SEL is the most proactive and preventative mental health initiative there is. And the #1 way to cultivate a safe school environment.

There are external safety measures that need to be put in place now for our children's safety. A heartfelt thank you to SafeandSoundSchools.org and Michele Gay and Alissa Parker, also parents of 6-year-olds shot in their first grade classrooms, for providing this measure.

Their efforts keep our kids safe externally. SEL keeps kids safe from the inside out by teaching them how to have positive and healthy relationships, meaningful connections, how to manage their emotions and feel kindness, caring and concern for themselves and others. Humans who feel love for one another will not want to harm one another. Period.

School shootings are preventable. And we know how to do it. We need to cultivate the courage to think proactively and preventatively instead of reacting to our issues (bullying, suicide, substance abuse, etc) and always being a step behind.

I am grateful for the thousands of people that have supported this effort including parents, educators, politicians, and students themselves who want to be part of the solution!! This grassroots movement has spread throughout all 50 states and 45 countries by word of mouth because it works. And it's free.

I applaud the courageous educators leading this charge who are using the comprehensive PreK-12th grade Choose Love Enrichment program in their classrooms and actively being part of the solution. Join us in this worldwide movement to Choose Love. We've positively impacted hundreds of thousands of students.

This is the solution.

Safe And Sound Schools was established by the families of 12/14 victims Josephine Gay and Emilie Parker to advocate for better school security and safety. The following statement appeared on its Facebook page on February 15:

We understand how hard this is to watch, and even harder to experience in person. Let's be there for each other for support and comfort as we try to come to terms with this senseless act.

The day after the Parkland shooting, the following message appeared on the Facebook page of the Ana Grace Project, which was established in memory of Ana Mérquez-Greene:

It is a sad and terrifying time. One of our worst fears has come true; 5 years after 12/14/12 it has happened again and with so many similarities to Sandy Hook. Please know that Nelba, Jimmy, and Isaiah are focused on taking care of themselves.

What you can do is this:

*Don't watch the news. Repeated exposure will traumatize you and that is not helpful.

*Turn the TV and wifi off and engage in connection with loved ones. Do not allow children to see or hear any sensationalized coverage.

*Saturate your local and federal lawmakers with calls for meaningful and reasonable change on legislation for access to firearms and mental health services.

*Start volunteering at a local school to be a point of compassionate connection for students and teachers.

*Approach conflict and violence with compassion and love knowing that fear and aggression only generate more of the same.

*Write a thank you note to a staff member at your child's school, colleague at work, neighbor or friend who embodies the spirit of love winning.

*Look for the helpers.

Below is an example of a conversation that a friend and parent had with her daughter this morning that is both compassionate and grounded in science. Please use it and model your own conversations from this one:

"Sitting at breakfast with K giving her some details before she gets the info at school and begging her not to watch any of the videos posted knowing her peers have social media (she does not). Discussed using her voice to ask others to not watch either. Reminding her the kids in those videos are someone's child, sibling, cousin, and not only does she not need to see them - their families don't need to be exposed repeatedly to the videos."

We must not stand by and do nothing in regards to school shootings. Instead of repeated exposure, we can continue the bold and courageous acts of demanding action on behalf of our children.

Let's spend whatever time we have contacting our elected officials to make our schools and communities safer. Demand more money for social workers, psychologists, MFTs, counselors, school resource officers, family resource centers, after school programming like the YWCA and community mental health programs that to support our children and loved ones through this type of violence. ... and? Help with prevention.

Yes, Love Wins, and we must act.

(The nonprofit also provided links to find the numbers for senators and representatives.)

David Wheeler who co-founded Ben's Lighthouse in memory of his late son and 12/14 victim Ben Wheeler posted the following statement on Facebook:

We are, again, made numb by the magnitude of another entirely preventable, uniquely American tragedy. Francine, Nate, Matthew, and I now have another too large group of brothers and sisters forced to join our ever-growing family of grief. Another community is now forced to learn to navigate this dark, uneven, and difficult path.

But we find hope grows where we plant the seeds. The generous, hardworking, dedicated hearts and minds at Ben's Lighthouse will continue to give children opportunities to find and share their light, so that darkness and fear will not prevail.

Our hearts are with the victims' families and the entire community impacted by yesterday's tragic event in Florida. We send love and light to all who are suffering.

He closed with a Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, quote: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

Just after the shooting on February 14, the Vicki Soto Memorial Fund, established in memory of the slain Sandy Hook educator, posted the following on its Facebook page:

We just wrote a statement a few weeks ago for the children in Kentucky. Now here we are, commenting on the school shooting in Florida today. To the media: keep children off of the news. Do not ask them for an interview. They do not need to be exploited. They will need therapy. They do not need to nor should they talk to you. Please let them process a day that will forever change their lives. To the families: we are here for you. We are sorry this keeps happening. Whatever you need, we are here.

To all of you: please help us fight for changes that will end this senseless behavior. This cannot be the new normal. Children should be able to go to school without being shot. This is heartbreaking.

The following day, the same site linked an article about one of the many teachers who came to the immediate aid of students during the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting:

This story hits very close to home for us. Melissa Falkowski, we thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for doing what you did to protect your students. Teachers are the ones on the front lines of this senseless violence. They went to college to be educators, not to be trained in combat. It is unfair for us to put the burden on them to protect our children, and yet we do because of the inaction of our government, and when faced with danger, they protect our children time and time again. Please thank your child's teacher today. They didn't sign up for this, and yet, here we are again.

Po Murray, chairwoman of Newtown Action Alliance, issued the following statement following the Parkland, Fla., shooting:

We send our love, support and prayers to the students, staff, first responders and community members of Parkland, Florida, who have been impacted by the devastating school shooting yesterday. Here in Newtown, we endured a similar day of terror due to a gunman with an AR-15 and high capacity magazines - weapons that belong in wars and not in the hands of civilians. Like the students in Parkland, our children were petrified, on lockdown, hid under desks and in bathrooms, and ran out of a blood-soaked building with hands on each other's shoulders. Parents struggled to find their children. Neighborhoods were on lockdown.

The Parkland school shooting incident was the 18th since January 1, 2018, and the 291st since the Sandy Hook tragedy.  We have repeatedly warned other communities that if it could happen in Newtown, then it can happen anywhere. Americans should not be shocked when these mass shooting incidents occur in their communities. The elected leaders in the majority of statehouses, governor mansions, US Capitol Building and the White House have failed to pass gun control legislation to end gun violence in America since the Sandy Hook tragedy.

Until more Americans hold their local, state, and federal elected representatives accountable, our children are not safe in our schools or in any public space. The current President and the Republican members of the 115th Congress have demonstrated that they will not take any action even after two of the deadliest mass shooting incidents in America's modern history that occurred in the last five months. Any elected official who only sends thoughts and prayers after this latest shooting are willing to sacrifice our children to protect the gun industry profits and they should be voted out in 2018 and 2020.

Nothing is more despicable and dishonorable than elected officials who say "now is not the time to talk about gun control" and blame only mental illness for these school shootings. The time to talk about gun control was after all previous mass shootings and after bloody weekends in Chicago and other urban communities. People in other nations suffer mental illness but there are virtually no mass shooting incidents or daily gun violence in their nations, due to strict gun control. Americans are 25 times more likely to be killed by guns than people from other industrialized nations. As a nation, we should be embarrassed that we do nothing in this nation to protect our precious children from gun violence.

We know that our elected leaders can do more to end gun violence in America. State legislators can pass laws similar to the ones passed in Connecticut after the Sandy Hook tragedy. Congress can reject the egregious NRA-supported Concealed Carry Reciprocity, the guns for anyone everywhere bill, and pass the following gun control measures.

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[naviga:li]Background checks on sale of all guns[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Close the Charleston loophole or 'delayed denial" where federally licensed dealers can sell guns if three business days pass without a verdict from the FBI[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Fix the National Instant Criminal Background Check system (NICS)[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Mandatory waiting period for gun purchases[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Gun violence restraining order/extreme risk protection order to temporarily prohibit an individual deemed by a judge to pose a danger to self or others, from purchasing or possessing firearms or ammunition and allow law enforcement to remove any firearms or ammunition already in the individual's possession[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Handgun licensing, permitting, training, and registration[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Ban bump-fire stocks and other dangerous accessories[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Ban future manufacture/sale of assault weapons, regulate existing assault weapons under the National Firearms Act of 1934, and initiate a federal gun buyback program[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Limits on high capacity magazines[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Make gun trafficking a federal crime[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Repeal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) to eliminate the corporate gun industry special protection from civil justice law that no other industry enjoys[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Restrict and penalize firearm possession by or transfer to a person subject to a domestic violence protection order or a person (including dating partners) convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Prohibit firearm sale or transfer to and receipt or possession by an individual who has: (1) been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor hate crime, or (2) received from any court an enhanced hate crime misdemeanor sentence.[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Repeal Dickey Amendment to adequately fund government research on gun violence[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Child access prevention/safe storage requirement[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Provide resources for people with mental illness[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Enhance accountability of federally licensed firearms dealers[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Microstamped code on each bullet that links it to a specific gun[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]"Smart guns" with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or biometric recognition (fingerprint) capability[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Limit gun purchases to one gun per month to reduce trafficking and straw purchases[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Prohibit open carry[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Digitize ATF gun records[/naviga:li]

[naviga:li]Require licensing for ammunition dealers[/naviga:li]

[/naviga:ol]

Since the Sandy Hook shooting tragedy, over 500,000 Americans have been killed or injured by guns and there have been more than 1,500 mass shooting incidents. Like the opioid crisis, gun violence is a public health emergency. Too many Americans are getting killed in public spaces. With 300 million guns in circulation and weak gun laws, all Americans should ask themselves "who's next?"