TAMPA, Fla. — The holidays are here and so are the painful memories for Johnny Johnson. On New Year’s Day in 2017, he lost his son to gun violence.
“It’s very rough, man — holiday time. You’re getting ready for dinner or preparing to go buy a gift, and that loved one is not there,” he said. “We’re in a club that no one wants to be a part of.”
His son, Jayquon, was a member of the varsity basketball team at Brandon High School. The shooting happened on Cabbage Palm Drive in Valrico.
“And it’s forever changed my life, my family’s life, and his friends and neighbors,” Johnson said.
Johnson, however, found the strength to turn his pain into a passion for helping others.
He co-founded Rise Up For Peace. The nonprofit tries to interrupt gun violence and help families impacted by violence in places like East Tampa.
“The majority of the families that we interact with on a consistent basis live in this general area,” he said during an interview at Ragan Park in East Tampa. “We are in, really, a hotbed of violence by gun.”
It’s in that area where his nonprofit will focus this holiday season.
Rise Up For Peace is hosting a toy drive, so it can distribute toys to children impacted by violence during an upcoming community fun day on Dec. 16 at Ragan Park in East Tampa.
“I say it’s something that we need as a whole in the community — some smiles and cheers for joy,” he said.
But to pull that off, he’s hoping anyone willing to help will donate unwrapped toys and bikes.
“Hopefully, we can give some of these families some type of resolve, because there’s not such thing as closure,” he said.
If you would like to donate, you can contact the nonprofit at 727-589-2530 or email Johnson at jjohnson@riseupforpeace.org. You can also visit riseupforpeace.org for more information.
