SAVE Celebrates National Youth Violence Prevention Week and 25 Years of SAVEing Youth

By Carleen Wray, Executive Director of SAVE

Students Against Violence Everywhere, better known as SAVE, started at West Charlotte High School in Charlotte, N.C. in 1989 following the tragic death of a student who was trying to break up a fight at an off-campus party. Students met first to console each other, then formed an organization to promote youth safety working together to prevent future incidents from occurring.

From that one high school chapter, SAVE has grown into a nationwide nonprofit — the National Association of Students Against Violence Everywhere, dedicated to decreasing the potential for violence in our schools and communities across the country. Today, more than 200,000 students are directly involved in SAVE programs at their middle school, high school and college chapters.

This week SAVE chapters across the country will participate in National Youth Violence Prevention Week April 7 to 11. SAVE has partnered with five likeminded organizations to sponsor the week. Each day during the week corresponds to a specific challenge presented by one of the sponsors and executed by youth around the country. Information about each sponsor and an example of suggested daily activities follows: