Many students at Abington High School wore orange ribbons on Thursday to support Parkland, Florida, where 17 people lost their lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine’s Day.

The ribbons were created by Student Council members. They were distributed for free during advisory before school to any student who wanted one.

Although the one month anniversary of the shooting in Florida was Wednesday, the mid-week Nor’easters pushed the memorial event back.

When asked why they wore the ribbons today, five freshman weighed in:

“I’m wearing this ribbon because there’s so much wrong in the world. If wearing this ribbon can even change a little bit of that, why wouldn’t wear it.” -Nick Graf

I wore it to raise awareness and to show empathy for the students of Parkland, Florida. I feel like if we want to make a change and to get our voices heard, we need to do something about it.” -Amanda Lopes

“I wore the ribbon to show everyone that this matters and if we all stand together we can make this world better and make it safer for everyone.” -Matt Lyons

“A small gesture can make a big difference.” -Leticia Meneghetti

“This effects us too. Even though we don’t know the kids who were involved, it could’ve easily been us.” -Madelyn O’Leary