SOULARD, Mo (KMOX) - They held signs that read "Black Lives Matter," wore superhero capes and chanted "don’t hate, appreciate" in a "Peace Parade" held by Gene Slay's Girls & Boys Club on Wednesday morning.
One of the kids in the one-mile walk, Ronald Story, says his favorite part was "sharing love."
Club Executive Director Bob Puricelli says the walk was meant to promote peace and understanding during this trying period of pandemic crisis and social unrest.
"Children cannot escape the unrest that is present in our world today. Every issue that impacts the adults of a society, will somehow impact its youth. Though they are young, they do indeed have a voice that needs to be heard," says Puricelli. "Our superheroes, big and small, will don their superhero capes and accouterments and take to the streets with their hand-made signs of hope in our Soulard neighborhood leaving songs and chants of peace and goodwill in their wake!"
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The Gene Slay's Girls & Boys Club offers year-round after-school and summer programming to 708 girls and boys ages 6 to 18 with high quality and holistic programs that respect and meet the needs of at-risk youth through academics, leadership building, health, athletics and the arts. Founded in 1929, the Club is the oldest boys club in Missouri.