NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Thousands of community members in Nashville are planning to link arms and sing songs to honor the victims of the Covenant School shooting one year after the tragic event.
Voices for a Safer Tennessee is behind the effort called Linking Arms for Change. Their plan is to have over 13,000 people lock arms and honor the six victims and surviving families.
Their message is clear "We're stronger together by holding one another up during a dark time."
The event is scheduled to take place at 5 p.m. The human chain will begin at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, to Centennial Park, up Broadway and to the State Capitol.
While thousands will be at the capitol united arm-in-arm, a program bringing together the city’s faith leaders and musical guests will take place at Musicians Corner in Centennial Park.
That program will include music from well-known artist Ketch Secor, who is co-founder and lead singer for the band Old Crow Medicine Show with Americana artist Molly Tuttle, Contemporary Christian Music artist Blessing Offor and more.
At 5:15 p.m. people at the capitol will sing the song "This Little Light of Mine."
"We are hoping to provide people with an opportunity to link arms, unite hearts, to really memorialize one of Nashville's darkest days," said Nicole Floyd Smith with Voices for a Safer Tennessee.
Participants are being asked to wear red. They say this effort is to also highlight the more than 1,200 Tennessee lives lost to preventable firearm tragedies over the last year.
There are still so many families in East Tennessee hurting following the floods from Hurricane Helene in September. That made this year's running of the Santa Train extra special for many families in the northeast part of the state. This special Santa Express has been making an annual run in part of Appalachia for over 80 years.
-Lelan Statom
