With a recent surge in violence on the minds of North Vallejo residents, the annual Safety Day by the Boys and Girls Empowerment Group this Friday couldn’t have come at a better time.
There were three separate homicides in Vallejo — two taking place in North Vallejo. Orlando Graham, the Founder and Executive Director of the Boys and Girls Empowerment Group, is hoping a discussion on the violence can help turn the tide.
“The latest crime streak is really sad because I thought that for a little while we were getting better,” Graham told the Times-Herald on Tuesday. “It’s disappointing because it feels like the city is always going backward with this, not forward.”
The safety day — “Stop the Gun Violence” — will feature kids ages 7-15 talking about how gun violence affects them. Activities, running from 10 a.m. to approximately 2 p.m., feature live music and a food truck at the 1638 Fairgrounds Drive Suite 2 venue.
“The kids talking is shaped to raise awareness of how they are being affected,” Graham said. “We don’t tell them what to write or say, but the majority of the speeches center around how they are scared, how they are constantly hearing gunshots, or what family members have gone through. It’s more about how they are scared, but not about whether or not they are being recruited by local gangs.”
Sherry Kelly and Orlando Graham of Boys & Girls Empowerment Group help out at the Health Fair in North Vallejo in 2022. (Thomas Gase – Times-Herald)
One of the recent killings was an officer-involved shooting after an alleged carjacking. Although the carjacking occurred at 400 Ryder St., the homicide took place about an hour later at the corner of Maghony Drive and Broadway Street in Northern Vallejo. About 10 hours later, another homicide took place in the 100 block of Lainey Court in Northern Vallejo.
In fact, the Safety Day itself was born out of a shooting at the site of the Boys and Girls Empowerment Group on July 4, 2023. In that incident, 200 gunshots hospitalized a teenager and terrorized the Vallejo shopping center where the youth group founded by Graham is located.
“The word ‘200’ should be enough to say, ‘Ayo, that’s enough,’” said Essex Cook, an executive board member at the Boys & Girls Empowerment Group, at the organization’s first safety day event in July of 2023.
Graham not only is inviting residents that live in the area, but also elected officials, the Vallejo Fire Department, the Solano County District Attorney (Krishna Abrams), the Solano County Sheriff’s Department and yes, the Vallejo Police Department.
“Look, I know the Vallejo Police Department is getting a bad rep lately,” Graham said. “I know that. But I said to myself, ‘Let’s bring the police to this event. If they know the kids who are in the area, meet them and talk with them, maybe these kids won’t become criminals, and if they do, maybe the police will be less likely to shoot someone they know.”
The event also serves as the awards day for the summer camp the Boys and Girls Empowerment Group hosts. On Tuesday, the group went to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, but it has also gone on numerous field trips outside Vallejo this summer.
“We’re trying to save and mentor these kids, but also show them that there is a future outside of Vallejo if they want it,” Graham said.
For more information on the event, call (707) 731-2216.