41 Years After Hands Across America, Foundation Launches “Youth Across America”
National Youth Violence Prevention, Remembrance and Community Action Initiative Set for May 25, 2027
TEMPLE, TEXAS — October 7, 2026 — Forty-one years after millions of Americans came together for Hands Across America, The Uvalde Foundation For Kids, is asking a new generation to come together for America's young people. We are building donations for this effort through our national partners such as Benevity, Walmart & Others & Need Your Help. Our Goal Is $20,000! Updates Will Be Provided On Our Foundation Website
The national youth advocacy and violence-prevention nonprofit, founded following the May 24, 2022 tragedy at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, is launching Youth Across America, a new national initiative focused on youth safety, violence prevention, remembrance, crisis response and community action.
Youth Across America will bring participating schools, youth organizations and communities together through locally organized events culminating in a coordinated 3:00 PM local-time moment on Tuesday, May 25, 2027 — exactly 41 years after Hands Across America.
The Foundation is now inviting communities across the country to become part of the first 100 founding communities, while also recruiting youth ambassadors, volunteers, schools, youth organizations, sponsors, community partners and media organizations to help build the effort. But we NEED YOUR HELP!
“This is something we believe needs to begin now,” said Daniel Chapin, founder and president of the Foundation. “In 1986, Americans showed what could happen when people across the country stood together for a common cause. In 2027, we want to give today's young people an opportunity to stand together for their generation — to remember those we've lost, support those who need help and work together to prevent the next tragedy.”
THE FOUNDATION BEHIND THE INITIATIVE
The Foundation was born out of the aftermath of the Robb Elementary School tragedy in Uvalde.
What began as a small effort to help Uvalde families and children who survived the May 24, 2022 shooting grew into a national youth advocacy and violence-prevention organization.
Today, the Foundation's work includes youth advocacy, violence prevention, crisis response, emergency assistance, bullying prevention, victim and family support, community outreach, youth recognition and memorial projects.
Its guiding approach is:
RECOGNIZE. INTERVENE. PREVENT.
The Foundation has responded to violence in communities across the country through emergency assistance, crisis support, victim advocacy, community outreach, rewards for information and pro bono legal assistance.
WHY YOUTH ACROSS AMERICA?
The Foundation believes America cannot wait until violence occurs to act.
It needs prevention before another family receives a devastating phone call.
Johns Hopkins' Center for Gun Violence Solutions reports that firearms remained the leading cause of death for Americans ages 1–17 for the fifth consecutive year in 2024, with 2,214 young people ages 1–17 killed by firearms that year.
Behind those numbers are individual children, teenagers, families and communities.
Recent violence has shown how quickly young people can become victims.
In Baltimore, a 12-year-old girl was fatally shot at Leon Day Park while a youth football game was taking place. In Vienna, Georgia, a homecoming block party shooting killed two people and injured nearly three dozen others, including teenagers. In Houston, teenagers including 17-year-old LePaul Warren and 15-year-old Royce Witchet were killed in separate recent shootings near schools.
Different communities. Different circumstances.
The loss is shared.
Youth Across America is intended to give communities a way to move beyond reacting to individual tragedies and toward sustained prevention, youth leadership and community action.
REMEMBERING THE YOUNG LIVES BEHIND THE NUMBERS
Youth Across America will also connect with the Foundation's Trees for Peace National Youth Violence Memorial Initiative, which provides permanent living memorials for young people whose lives have been taken by violence.
The idea is simple:
Young people should be remembered as individuals, not statistics.
Through Trees for Peace, the Foundation has announced memorial trees for young victims including Ryder Harrington and Savitha Shan, whose memorial trees are planned for the Sam Houston National Forest, and Emily Finn, who is being honored through a memorial tree in the Finger Lakes National Forest.
The memorials preserve the memory of young people while reminding communities why prevention matters.
On May 25, 2027, participating communities will be encouraged to remember young people lost to gun violence and other acts of violence, including those memorialized through Trees for Peace.
Trees for Peace provides a place to remember.
Youth Across America provides a day for America to remember together.
And both lead to the same question:
What can we do so there are fewer names to remember?
The goal is not simply to memorialize young lives after tragedy.
It is to connect remembrance with prevention.
FROM HANDS ACROSS AMERICA TO YOUTH ACROSS AMERICA
On May 25, 1986, an estimated five million Americans participated in Hands Across America, a symbolic human chain across much of the country organized around hunger and homelessness. The event passed through 16 states and the District of Columbia, while contemporary reporting noted gaps in portions of the physical chain and participation by people outside the official route.
May 25, 2027 will mark the 41st anniversary of that event
Youth Across America is intentionally connected to that anniversary.
But the Foundation is not attempting to recreate Hands Across America.
There does not have to be one continuous coast-to-coast chain.
Instead, communities will be invited to take the central idea of people across America coming together for a common purpose and build something for today's generation.
A school might organize a student gathering.
A community might hold a youth peace walk.
A neighborhood might create a human chain.
A city might organize a memorial and prevention event.
A youth organization might hold a violence-prevention program.
The local format can be different. The national commitment will be the same.
MAY 25, 2027 — 3:00 PM LOCAL TIME
At 3:00 PM local time on May 25, 2027, participating communities will be invited to pause together.
Each community will observe the moment at 3:00 PM where it is located, creating a rolling national wave through America's time zones.
The moment could include joining hands, holding photographs, reading names, observing silence, hearing from young people or making a personal commitment to prevention.
In 1986, the image was Americans physically joining hands.
In 2027, the Foundation hopes the image will be communities across America standing together for young people.
100 FOUNDING COMMUNITIES
The Foundation's first organizing goal is to identify 100 founding communities.
Those communities can include:
Schools and student organizations
Youth nonprofits
Cities and neighborhoods
Civic and community organizations
Colleges and universitie
Businesses and sponsors
Families and volunteer groups
Other organizations committed to youth safety and violence prevention
A community does not need thousands of participants to take part.
The Foundation wants communities to begin where they are.
YOUTH AMBASSADORS
The Foundation is also recruiting Youth Across America Youth Ambassadors.
Youth Ambassadors will help recruit communities, connect students, organize local activities, promote prevention resources, create awareness and help shape the May 25 event.
They will not simply be asked to attend.
They will help build it.
MORE THAN ONE DAY
The Foundation does not want Youth Across America to end at 3:01 PM
The long-term goal is to turn the national moment into year-round local action.
That could include mentoring, bullying prevention, peer support, crisis intervention, youth leadership, violence-prevention programs, safe firearm-storage education and community outreach.
The Foundation calls this the “One More” commitment:
One more student reached.
One more warning sign recognized
One more family connected with help.
One more young person supported.
One more firearm securely stored.
One more life protected.
HOW TO JOIN & Participate
Communities do not have to wait until May 2027 to get involved.
Schools, youth organizations, communities, civic groups, businesses, families, volunteers and others can contact the Foundation now to:
Become a Founding Community
Discuss organizing a local event
Learn about Youth Ambassador opportunities
Volunteer
Discuss sponsorship or community partnerships
Receive Youth Across America updates
To begin the conversation:
Email: youthpeacejusticefoundation@gmail.com
Phone: 254-499-8027
Interested participants should identify their community, organization or school, provide a contact person and briefly explain how they would like to participate.
We are building donations for this effort through our national partners such as Benevity, Walmart & Others & Need Your Help. Our Goal Is $20,000! Updates Will Be Provided On Our Foundation Website. Thank you in advance for your support
