Mendham Teen Planning Morristown March For Our Lives

MENDHAM, NJ — In the wake of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 students and teachers dead, teenagers have emerged as the driving force behind a renewed push for gun control measures with the #NeverAgain movement. One Morris County teenager has added her voice to the efforts, spearheading the Morristown March For Our Lives.

Bella Bhimani, a 16-year-old sophomore at Mendham High School, knew she needed to do something following the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

She had heard about the March For Our Lives, a gun control march planned for March 24 in Washington, D.C., but wanted to widen its reach by planning a sister march in New Jersey.

"After hearing about the march in DC, I thought that attending the march would be great but that we would have a much greater impact by holding more sister marches around the country. Since there was not one in our area, I decided to organize one in Morristown to give people (especially students) an opportunity to voice their opinions," Bhimani told Patch.

She started a GoFundMe to raise funds for the march; so far, $5,220 of the fundraiser's $10,000 goal have been donated. Bhimani said she was reaching out to township officials as part of the planning process.

The non-partisan march is calling for a gun control bill targeted at ending school shootings, the national march's website says.

"School safety is not a political issue. There cannot be two sides to doing everything in our power to ensure the lives and futures of children who are at risk of dying when they should be learning, playing, and growing. The mission and focus of March For Our Lives is to demand that a comprehensive and effective bill be immediately brought before Congress to address these gun issues," the website says.

Marches are planned for most major cities, similarly to how the Women's March was set up, and is spearheaded by five students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

• Read More: Parkland Shooting: Students Plan March Urging Gun Control

Overall, feedback from those around her has been positive, Bhimani said, with adults and teens alike supporting the cause.

"All the adults have been very supportive and many have reached out specifically to see how they can help us," Bhimani said. "Like me, many of my friends and fellow students were also very upset by the shooting last week and agree with me completely. They are very motivated and supportive and want to see change made."

Much of the activism of the #NeverAgain movement has been spearheaded by teenagers, all of whom were born after the attack at Columbine High School. They have never known a world without mass shootings in schools, and are calling to be the last generation to experience one.

"To me, the #NeverAgain movement means exactly what it says; that this will truly NEVER happen again," Bhimani told Patch. "This movement was started by the survivors of the last week's shooting at Stoneman Douglas, who started this with the intention that no one else should have to experience what they did. They wanted the country to remember their shooting, and learn from it so that it would be the last one. I believe that this movement is incredibly powerful, and that I agree that this must be the end of these mass shootings, and that something like this can never happen again."

The Morristown March For Our Lives is planned for March 24 in Morristown. The march is tentatively scheduled to start at 11 a.m. at Town Hall, but is subject to change as details are finalized with police and the mayor's office. For more information and to register to march, visit the march's Facebook page here.

GoFundMe is a promotional partner of Patch.

PARKLAND, FL - FEBRUARY 17: Juliana Cruz joins with others as they protest against guns on February 17, 2018 in Parkland, Florida. Earlier this week former student Nikolas Cruz opened fire with a AR-15 rifle at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School killing 17 people. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images,)