The Washington Mystics, Capitals, Wizards, Nationals, Commanders, Spirit, and D.C. Shadow announced Friday that they will be setting down an initial donation of more than $85,000 to Everytown for Gun Safety’s Community Safety Fund. In doing so they will be supporting community-based violence intervention programs. The DC teams have set up an online space for fans to donate to the fund, which can be found here.
The Mystics have run Wear Orange games with Everytown for Gun Safety for four years, with their 2022 game scheduled for Friday night. Orange is the official color of gun violence awareness and has been since the friends of Hadiya Pendleton wore orange in her honor after she was shot and killed in 2013. The Mystics are a founding member of the Everytown Athletic Council.
The DC teams will try to get donations from fans through social media and other tactics. They will change their social media profile pictures to orange, wear warm-up clothes with orange accents and gun violence prevention messaging and release information on gun violence statistics. They will also be donating proceeds from certain sales and events to the fund.