Four donations totaling $2 million are on the way for March for Our Lives, a planned demonstration to take place in Washington D.C. and across the United States on March 24th. March for Our Lives is a protest against the political inaction allowing gun violence to continue to become a regular occurrence in schools across the country.
The donors of such a generous sum are George and Amal Clooney, Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Oprah. Clooney was the first to announce that he would be contributing $500,000 and his own presence at the march, swiftly followed by matching contributions from the other three.
“Amal and I are so inspired by the courage and eloquence of these young men and women from Stoneman Douglas High School. Our family will be there on March 24 to stand side-by-side with this incredible generation of young people from all over the country,” Clooney wrote in a statement to ABC News on Wednesday, February 12th.
Survivors of the Stoneman Douglas massacre have been vocal in their criticism of “thoughts and prayers” coming from politicians who have regularly voted against any attempts to introduce tougher gun laws. The students believe stricter regulations could have prevented the deaths of the 17 people who were murdered in the attack.
Once the donations come in, the event will have raised more than $2.7 million, nearly triple its proposed $1 million goal on GoFundMe.
“In every single city, we are going to be marching together as students begging for our lives. This isn’t about the GOP. This isn’t about the Democrats. This is about the adults. We feel neglected. At this point, you’re either with us or you’re against us,” said Cameron Kasky, one of the leaders of March for Our Lives, in an interview with ABC.
“Not one more,” reads the March’s mission statement. “We cannot allow one more child to be shot at school. We cannot allow one more teacher to make a choice to jump in front of a firing assault rifle to save the lives of students.”