Lock Arms for Life kicked off its 2021 safety work with a splash this week, receiving the news that Austin’s Safe Kids Coalition named Lock Arms as its 2020 Coalition Champion Award. Founding director Leesa Ross accepted the honor in a virtual meeting, saying that the award sets the bar for an active year to come.

“I’m super excited to receive this award from Safe Kids Austin Coalition,” Ross said. “Reaching out to the Austin City Council and gathering support for the Green Light initiative were highlights of a great year. I became a member of the Safe Kids because I needed help getting the message of gun safety out to parents.”

The annual award for Coalition Champion came as a surprise to Ross, whose organization marked the start of 2021 with a new website and fresh programs for gun safety. “We’re grateful for all Leesa does to help Safe Kids Austin. She’s a great example of advocacy for our members,” said Stewart Williams, Advocacy Chair.

The Safe Kids Austin Coalition Champion Award recognizes a Safe Kids Austin member who has consistently supported the Safe Kids Coordinator in coalition activities and initiatives. The Coalition Champion demonstrates dedication to the coalition and regularly provides assistance to the coordinator to achieve coalition goals.

Lock Arms for Life, led by Ross, earned a proclamation from the Austin City Council on behalf of gun safety work. 2020 work also included advocacy with the Greenlight Project, a national safety program which organized a Green Light Safety Day in November. A National Prevention Awareness day on November 18.

Ross was the primary coordinator with the Injury Free Coalition for Kids, a program that is among the country’s most effective injury prevention programs. It is comprised of over 40 sites located in Level I Trauma Centers of 30 states across the country in all the country’s Federal Trauma Regions.

Other advocacy work that Lock Arms completed during the year included an educational session with healthcare professionals for the SafeStates 2020 Virtual Conference. Ross led the seminar An Effective Approach to Reduce Gun Tragedies. More than 50 healthcare experts in clinical, organizational, and academic positions learned from the presentation.

The award for Lock Arms for Life comes in its first full year of advocacy operations. Coalitions like the one that’s coordinated by SafeKids help increase the reach of messages like Get ACTIVE, the practices that Lock Arms for Life teaches to save lives of students, families, and young adults who can be legal gun owners.

SafeKids helped give gun safety a voice on Fox7 Austin and Univision, Ross said. “I just reach out and someone is there to support me.”