As soccer fans don Germany and Ecuador jerseys to attend FIFA World Cup matches in the U.S. on June 25, youth-led gun safety organization March for Our Lives is distributing a new jersey to drive gun violence awareness. The jersey, dubbed America’s #1 jersey, appears patriotic at first glance with its red, white and blue design similar to the USMNT jersey. However, the back features a stark message: “#1 cause of death for American kids: guns.”“During the World Cup, every country is competing to be ‘No. 1’ — it’s a celebration of excellence, national pride and achievement,” Jaclyn Corin, executive director of March for Our Lives, explained. “We wanted to ask a different question: What is the U.S. leading in that we shouldn’t be?” Corin said. “That would be the fact that firearms are the leading cause of death for American children, and that should stop every one of us in our tracks.”Roughly a dozen March for Our Lives team members will pass out jerseys outside of New York City’s Penn Station and Times Square — an effort to catch soccer fans mid-commute to the World Cup host arena, MetLife Stadium. While America’s #1 jersey will “speak for itself,” Corin said, March for Our Lives distributors will spark conversations with participants to raise awareness about U.S. gun violence, which has 26% more gun violence incidents than any other high-income country.After distributing at Penn Station, the team will migrate closer to stadiums, fan zones, bars and major transit hubs, according to a statement from the organization.“Our hope is that people take a jersey and wear it, so the conversation can expand past our on-the-ground team,” Corin said. “Especially as we enter midterm elections, when people are thinking about the next season of politics and what issues should be prioritized at the ballot box.”Corin, a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, has been planning campaigns for March for Our Lives since 2018. The nonprofit began working with Founders Agency to create America’s #1 jersey in November, Corin said.“We knew the World Cup would bring a lot of attention to our country and also would strike fear in the hearts of international fans who were frankly scared to come to the U.S. at this point in our country's history,” Corin said. “Finding the right moment to strike was pivotal.”Student survivors and activists founded March for Our Lives in the wake of the 2018 Parkland shooting, which resulted in 17 deaths, including 14 students. Since 2018, the organization has lobbied for over 300 state-level gun reform measures and helped mobilize over 2 million young voters, according to the organization’s impact statement.PRWeek honored David Hogg, a March for Our Lives cofounder and Parkland shooting survivor, as its 2019 Communicator of the Year. Earlier this year, Campaign named Patricia Padauy-Oliver an Inspiring Woman for cofounding gun violence awareness nonprofit Change the Ref with her husband, Manuel Oliver. Padauy-Oliver lost her 17-year-old son, Joaquin Oliver, in the 2018 shooting.“Today’s campaign uses one of the most sort of recognizable symbols of sports fandom, the jersey, to start a conversation about a reality that far too many Americans have become numb to,” Corin explained.