Why Mansion House paid for 25 bus seats

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To the Editor:

Tragedies like the murders at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School rip the fabric of our society. Our anger isn’t just directed toward the shooter, but also toward the government officials who, under the thrall of political organizations, allow disturbed individuals to purchase military weapons. Grief and trauma mingled with our relief that a young woman we know was no longer teaching at that high school.

We were thrilled to read on Islanders Talk that M.V. Charter School student Keith Chatinover reacted with hope, purpose, and activism. On social media he announced that he booked a charter bus to take local students to the March for Our Lives, in Washington D.C/, on March 24. He had the courage to lead, and the faith to use his credit card in the hope that businesses and individuals would help defray the cost for each bus rider. We have donated enough to make certain that the bus will carry a full contingent of students to our capital.

To be on the right side of history, to be publicly proactive, to help create change, can be costly and difficult, in many ways.

But to do nothing has proven deadly for our children.

March for Our Lives is an opportunity to support change. It seems to us that this march honors the innocent lives lost as well as the young people willing to work for change. We may disagree on how that change should happen, but we hope we all know that we have to find a way to make our schools safe. We cannot continue to read about a little girl who wrote out a will in case she got killed at school.

We applaud all the students who are willing to sit in a bus overnight, protest during the day, and then bus home in order to make their voices heard. We thank Keith and the other supporters. We hope and pray that this march makes a difference.

Nili Morgan, Josh Goldstein, Sherm Goldstein, Susan Goldstein
Mansion House
Vineyard Haven