Texas Impact’s gun violence prevention and awareness campaign, Vidas Robadas, has been going strong for over a year now. The project, which creates memorials for victims of gun violence, has a big day coming up – as a part of the Texas Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence’s Advocacy Day on Feb 27th, 2025 Texas Impact and our partners will be taking every single t-shirt memorial to the Texas Capitol.
The installation will be the largest display Vidas Robadas has ever done, featuring thousands of t-shirt memorials. However, we’re not quite ready yet. So far we have made about 4,000 memorials to date. While that number is staggering, tragically it is only a fraction of the total number of gun violence deaths in Texas.
Memorials at University of the Incarnate Word
Memorials at Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church in Austin
Moms Demand Action Houston making memorials
Students at Trinity University making memorials
Every life that has been stolen by gun violence deserves to be honored and remembered. That is why we need help from our members and your friends to make as many memorials as we can before February.
Here’s what you can do
While it can be emotionally challenging, the logistics behind making a t-shirt memorial are fairly simple.
- Sign up at this link to volunteer to make shirts.
- A Texas Impact employee will reach out to you after to provide some instruction.
- Buy blank shirts to write on.
- The color of the shirt dictates what type of memorial it is: white shirts = victims of suicide; multicolor shirts = victims of homicide and accidental shootings.
- Buy materials to write on the shirts.
- While we often buy king-sized Sharpies to write, you are welcome to use anything that works. Paint and even stitch work have been used previously.
- Make the memorial.
- What is written on the shirts depends on the victim. The information is demonstrated below and will also be emailed to you after signing up.
- Email bobby@texasimpact.org to coordinate getting your shirts to Texas Impact.
Making t-shirt memorials is an easy but impactful way to help Texas Impact work towards reducing gun violence and passing legislation, and it’s something you don’t have to do alone. Grab a friend, a club, a social action team, or a religious study group, and help us make a difference. Or you can do it the old-fashioned way and get your whole congregation to host a display. Help us memorialize those we’ve lost and make Texas safer.