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	growing child family & society

Meet a Few of the Million Moms

Pauline Wahl
Hometown: Minot, North Dakota
Children: Dana, 29, and Joanna, 25
Why She Came: "I'm a teacher, and we have lots of kids we send home every day to homes that have guns. . . .In North Dakota, a lot of people have guns for hunting. I believe in sensible gun ownership. I care about kids."

Doris Wells
Hometown: St. Paul, Minnesota
Children: Korey, 29
Why She Came: "I happened to be watching the Oprah show, and there was another African-American mother who had lost her only son. I identified with her so much because Korey is my only son. If enough of us come and enough of us write, maybe something good will happen. . . .I don't want my son to die from a bullet."

Lucinda Brown
Hometown: Mclean, Virginia
Children: Went, 8, and Hilary, 5
Why She Came: "I wanted the kids to know about democracy and how it is we can make our voices heard. I want my kids to know that when you feel strongly about something you need to say it."

Ronell Guy
Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Children: Yasmin, 18, and Ronnie, 6
Why She Came: "I'm here because every time the kids leave the house we live in fear that something could happen to them. It was almost to the point where we were afraid to let them out."

Valerie McKechney
Hometown: Alexandria, Virginia
Children: Julie, 37, Kathryn, 36, and John, 33
Why She Came: "Once, in our neighborhood, a ten-year-old little girl came home from school with her friends and got a gun down from over the mantel and ended up being shot. We are the only country that's so gun crazy. Other countries look at us and think, "What's wrong with America?" Hopefully, we will get the right people in Congress who believe in gun control."

Kathryn Gonsales
(daughter of Valerie McKechney)
Hometown: Chesapeake, Virginia
Children: Desiree, 5
Why She Came: "We're tired of watching the news and seeing all the children die. It is getting harder to explain it to my daughter. Hopefully we can stop it."

Diane Gipson
Hometown: Belleville, New Jersey
Children: Sahara, 3
Why She Came: "To make a physical presence so that people will know how we feel."

Blossom Segaloff
Hometown: Washington, DC
Children: Susanna, 35, and Rebecca, 33
Why She Came: "I think too many people have the idea that violence is an answer to violence, and it's really the other way around. I feel lucky that my children are not among the ones being memorialized today. Someone very dear to me has gone down by gun violence."

Jill Hanekamp Zier
Hometown: New York City, New York
Children: Maggie, 5, and Dugan, 4
Why She Came: "I saw a flyer on Christopher Street in the Village and asked what else I could do. I became a captain for one of the buses leaving from the Village. I have really been moved by the people involved. Look around, it is mind-boggling and so peaceful."

Teja Anderson
Hometown: New York City, New York
Children: Jaden, 5 and Olivia, 2
Why She Came: "I come from a long line of activists. I used to go with my mother to demonstrations. This is the most important one of all for me. I hope we do this again next year."

Sally Bond
Hometown: Pittsboro, North Carolina
Children: Jack, 4
Why She Came: "I'm here probably for the same reason a lot of mothers are. The stories we hear are frightening. We're not looking forward to having our kids in school."

Kate Otero
Hometown: Acton, Massachusetts
Children: Joseph, 8, Jack, 4, and William, 19 months
Why She Came: "The reason why I came, especially with my son, is to let him and other people know I feel very strongly about violence, especially being the mother of three sons. I'm not saying to ban all guns, but I am in favor of banning certain guns. . . . Hopefully my son will grow up and continue to carry this torch."

Carolyn Haselkam
Hometown: Pacific Palisades, California
Children: Mimi, 41, Francine, 38, and Faye, 35
Why She Came: "I'm a school administrator, and I work in a neighborhood in East Los Angeles where there's a lot of gang activity and guns--sometimes in the park right next door. Our children are really good, but they sometimes hear guns all night long."

Helena Huang
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Children: Lu, 4
Why She Came: "I'm here first of all as a mother, somebody who is terribly concerned about all of our children. I am ashamed that our country is one of the leading producers of lethal violence. To use the moral authority of motherhood and to stand in unity against the NRA is a very powerful thing. I'm inspired by the numbers and different kinds of people who came here today."

Maria Aguero
Hometown: Herndon, Virginia
Children: Alice, Monique, and Jessica
Why She Came: "I am here because I think we should make laws to protect our children. . . make laws to put safety locks on guns. . . to make it more difficult for people to have access to them."

Julie Triedman
Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
Children: Jamie, 4, and Olivia, 2
Why She Came: "I mainly came for my four-year-old son, Jamie, because I wanted him to know about political activism. But also, in my neighborhood near Crown Heights, we can hear gunfire on summer nights. I really care about this particular issue."