Grassroots program in Peekskill transforms guns into garden tools
For the past five years, Mark Stradley, co-founder of the community group Rawtools Buffalo, has taken guns donated by police departments and individuals and transformed the metal into garden tools.
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Community members gathered in Peekskill on Saturday to end gun violence – one disassembled weapon at a time.
Public school counselor Mark Stradley says he's seen more than his share of lives lost. For the past five years Stradley, co-founder of the community group Rawtools Buffalo, has taken guns donated by police departments and individuals and transformed the metal into garden tools.
"I'm a school counselor in the City of Buffalo and I've lost far too many students to gun violence. I felt like I needed to do something, rather than just complain about it. I wanted to do something that would be transformational," he said.
After enjoying the music and dancing performed by local students, community members lined up to take part in the process, hammering away and breaking down the gun metal that will also be used to make jewelry.
"Once built to destroy, built to hurt, we're repurposing them and converting them into garden tools that are going to be used to create gardens," said event organizer Lorna Gonsalves, of Peekskill.
