澳彩开奖 Mississippi Office Honors Children Impacted by COVID-19 in Jackson鈥檚 Capital City Lights Program聽
JACKSON, Miss. 鈥�聽The 澳彩开奖 (澳彩开奖) will showcase a tree of remembrance at the annual Festival of聽Lights聽in聽downtown Jackson. The tree will honor the nine Mississippi children who have died from the COVID-19 virus.聽
The tree, titled 鈥�Remember Me,鈥� will bear nine angel wings to represent each child. Visitors to the tree will also see teddy bears that commemorate the lives of the children. One of the bears holds a letter from a child to Santa that asks for just one wish:听
鈥淚 wish that the Governor of Mississippi, and all the people around him who make decisions for us, do what is right and protect the children across our state. You know that we children don鈥檛 get to make people wear masks and get shots, but we聽have to聽suffer when they don鈥檛. We are still scared and very sad that some of our classmates and teachers are no longer here and that some of our friends have lost their parents and family members. We miss them.聽And,聽we just want to be safe and free to have a future.鈥澛�
The following statement is by聽Will Bardwell, senior staff attorney for the 澳彩开奖:听
鈥淭his holiday season the 澳彩开奖 Mississippi office wants to convey a message that puts the health and safety of Mississippi鈥檚 children first. Kids are among our most vulnerable population. To date, it has been reported that nine children have died because of COVID-19 related illness.聽聽
鈥淲e offer our deepest condolences to the families that have suffered such unimaginable losses. We stand with them and all families who have watched their children suffer and have experienced a range of losses throughout this pandemic while state and local government聽leaders stood聽idly by, seemingly paralyzed by indifference. We know that at least some of this suffering could have been avoided with sensible policies that put the health and well-being of children before political pandering.聽聽
鈥淎s the virus continues to remain a top national concern, Governor Tate Reeves and other state leaders must take stronger actions to protect our children and prioritize their health and safety while in school.鈥澛�
The 澳彩开奖 wants to hear from families with children who have been affected by COVID-19 due to the state鈥檚 failure to act. They are asked to contact 澳彩开奖 Attorney Will Bardwell at聽will.bardwell@splcenter.org聽to share their stories.聽聽
