Student Organizers For Parkland March Pleased With Turnout, Still Have Work To Do
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PARKLAND (CBSMiami) – The day so many Marjory Stoneman Douglas students worked so hard for has come and gone.
On Saturday, student organizers got to see the fruits of their labor, which they say included a turnout of more than 20,000 people, at the Parkland March for Our Lives rally.
Casey Sherman was one of the lead student organizers.
"To see all the support you have is just, it's just unparalleled. It really is," Sherman said. "It's just a feeling that you can never really begin to explain."
For the past month Sherman, Sari Kaufman and other students have worked tirelessly on the rally to advocate for gun reform.
The event, held at Pine Trails Park, also honored the 17 students and staff who died in the Stoneman Douglas mass shooting on February 14th.
Voter registration was a big part of the event that took place here and in hundreds of other cities across the country.
"It's really important to get people to go out there to vote because that's what we need to do in order to make any change happen," said Sherman
PIX: March For Our Lives Rally in Parkland
PIX: March For Our Lives Rally in Washington, D.C.
Kaufman's role was getting voter registration booths at the event.
She says six different organizations helped with that task.
"At the end of the march I talked to some of the organizations that came and they said it was the biggest turnout they've ever had," said Kaufman.
She's hoping the amount of people registering to vote at these marches is what leads to the change she says is badly needed in gun legislation.
"It's great all of the people who are coming to these marches and participating but what's really going to make a difference is after this when they go to the elections and they place their ballots. That's really going to make the biggest difference," said Kaufman.
As for what's next for these student organizers, they say it's continuing to encourage people to vote.
"In a few days we're going to have a workshop and we're going to figure out a way to communicate the message to go out and vote not just for midterms, not just for presidential elections but all elections and give you incentives why you should vote and make a change," said Kaufman.