An exhibit at Jersey Shore University Medical Center displays the breakdown of daily deaths due to firearms.  

What began as a senior art project in 2017 for Caileigh Nerney is now an annual display inside the courtyard at the Neptune Township hospital.

Rows of chairs, 91 in all, draped in shirts – the red represents lives lost to suicide, the blue to homicide, and the yellow to accidental deaths. In the seven years, the national statistics increased to 124 deaths per day, shown by the empty chairs in back.

The goal is to raise awareness and prevention of gun violence in the community.  

"There are little things we can all do, whether it’s supporting local businesses or recognizing someone who might be a victim of partner violence, recognizing the danger of suicide because the mass shootings are so awful,” says Tracy Nerney, trauma injury prevention coordinator at JSUMC. The truth of the matter is that there are lives lost every day outside of mass events that we can make a difference and save some of those lives.”

Project HEAL, a hospital-based violence intervention program at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, received a $500,000 grant last month to expand services and to address community, domestic and gang-related violence. 

Every day, more than 100 lives are lost in the United States due to gun violence.