LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The results of the "Curbing Gun Violence in Jefferson County" essay competition are now public, with two winning ideas submitted.
Congressman Morgan McGarvey joined Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg and President of the Crescent Hill Community Council Cynthia Thomas to announce the winner(s) Tuesday morning at Metro Hall.
The winning ideas were chosen from hundreds of essay entries. The contest launched in July, when participants were asked to submit realistic ideas to reduce gun violence in Louisville. The Crescent Hill Community Council received more than 220 submissions by the Oct. 4 deadline.
The contest had five rules:
- Your ideas for curbing gun violence in Jefferson County must be typed with minimum 10 point font and no more than 1 page total, or 500 words in length.
- The winning idea should include 3 action steps to implement the idea.
- The winning idea must be "do-able" with the resources available in Jefferson County.
- The winning idea may be a new idea, or a fresh look at an old idea.
- Any person from anywhere, of any age can win. We encourage school age children, young adults, and people in Assisted Living, nursing homes, etc. to submit their ideas.
One winning idea was from local artist Lisa Austin, who hopes to create an art project as a way to help people heal from trauma and remember those who lost their lives to gun violence.
CLICK HERE to read Austin's essay.
"I wanted to do something that would indicate the names of the people who had been murdered and I wanted their stories told," Austin told WDRB News on Tuesday. "I think that will help very much when they see a name and a story to make it real to people. It's not just another statistic, it's not just another murder."
The second winning idea chosen by the panel of 15 judges was from Mike Reed, focused on peace. His essay includes information on a poster contest within schools, peace walks, creating a peace awareness program, and more.
CLICK HERE to read Reed's essay.
"I think we obviously all have concerns about gun violence and I think we all have a role to play and I just wanted to offer something," he said. "It affects all of us and we all need to do something."
A panel of judges -- some of whom have lost children to gun violence -- selected the winners. Rose Smith, one of the judges, lost her son in a shooting in 2014.
"I just hope that I'm making him proud," she said. "It's hard doing this work and to know that I don't know who and I don't know why that his murder is still unsolved. But I know that I've still got to just keep on pushing and just keep doing it and just trying to make a difference."
Smith said these ideas are a good place to start, when to comes to making a positive change.
"Do I think it's going to be the end all of all? No. This is just the beginning but we're doing something," she said.
Reed and Austin will split the $7,000 prize money. Austin said she plans to use her share to buy supplies for the art project.
The Crescent Hill Community Council is now searching for an implementation team to help make the winning ideas a reality. For information on becoming part of that team, click here.
Related Stories:
- More than 200 ideas submitted in essay contest aimed at reducing gun violence in Louisville
- $7,000 prize will now be awarded to person with best idea to curb Louisville's gun violence problem
- $6,100 now offered for best solution aimed at solving Louisville's gun violence crisis
- $4,000 prize offered for best idea to curb gun violence in Louisville
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