On Monday, Aug. 22, Newark Mayor Cory A. Booker, members of the Newark Municipal Council, Stop Shootin’ Music Founder Al’Tarik Onque and the Friends of Mildred Helms Park hosted a toy gun exchange program at the pavilion located in the center of Mildred Helms Park, at 104 Seymour Ave. in Newark’s South Ward. During the event, toy guns donated by children were exchanged for more appropriate toys or books.
According to the Children’s Defense Fund and National Center for Health Statistics, between 1979 and 2001 gunfire killed 90,000 children and teens in America.
Toys for the exchange were provided by Newark Now, the New Jersey Devils and Newark Community Solutions.