"Lives depend on it" - Bears and members of Chicago Sports Alliance donate $300k to Robb School Memorial Fund and Sandy Hook Promise Foundation 

The Chicago Sports Alliance (CSA) has made a donation of $300,000 to the memorial funds for Sandy Hook and Robb Elementary school shootings. The group, which comprises of the Bears, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox and Blackhawks, issued the following statement along with the announcement of the donation. All five teams are believed to have donated $50,000, as the sporting world continues to come together to support the victims and their families who were involved in these senseless killings.

"Today, the sports teams of Chicago remember all victims of gun violence across the nation and the vibrant lives that were cut short in Uvalde," a statement released by the Alliance said. "The CSA stands together to contribute our support to finding evidence-based solutions to gun violence with a collective commitment of $300,000 to the Robb School Memorial Fund and the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation, a national nonprofit organization with a mission to end school shootings. It is our responsibility to those innocent lives lost to do more. We are committed to making a difference through the resources in our power to solving this gun violence epidemic. Lives depend on it. This is not a game."

The role of the Chicago Sports Alliance

The CSA was created five years ago, with the aim of helping to address gun crime in the city by pooling the collective resources and influence of Chicago's five main franchise teams. To date, the group has donated over $6.5 million to various initiatives in the Chicago area.

Funding is provided in the form of grants given to various groups working to reduce gun crime in local second city communities. These include projects, such as Choose to Change, READI, Little Village Prevention and Intervention Initiative.

The CSA chose to act following the harrowing events of May 24, 2022, when 19 children and two teachers were killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, by a lone killer in scenes that shocked the nation. The tragedy comes almost a decade after a similar massacre in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.

The CSA hopes that the donation can be used to offer support services to all of those affected by the heartbreaking events. Meanwhile, they continue to pledge ongoing financial backing for these initiatives, working tirelessly within the Chicago community with the aim of reducing gun crime. Hopefully, this will prevent their city from ever experiencing the horrors witnessed at Sandy Hook and Robb Elementary schools.