George & Amal Clooney Pledge $500,000 To Florida Students' March For Our Lives

George and Amal Clooney are putting their money where their mouths are to end gun violence in the United States.

The superstar couple donated $500,000 (£358,185) towards March For Our Lives, the upcoming protest organised by survivors of the horrific mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead, according to Deadline. The protest, which will be held on 24 March in Washington D.C., is in direct response to Congress' inability to pass gun control legislation in the wake of mass shootings in schools, at nightclubs, in churches, and in movie theatres.

"Amal and I are so inspired by the courage and eloquence of these young men and women from Stoneman Douglas High School," Clooney said in a statement obtained by Deadline. "Our family will be there on March 24 to stand side by side with this incredible generation of young people from all over the country, and in the name our our children Ella and Alexander, we're donating 500,000 dollars to help pay for this groundbreaking event. Our children's lives depend on it."

Clooney couldn't be more correct in noting that teenagers and young adults are leading the change needed to prevent future mass shootings. Their generation has hidden in closets, run countless drills, and watched as their peers were killed by semi-automatic weapons, some of the same weapons used on the battlefield during war.

In the days following the Florida high school shooting, students like Emma Gonzalez called upon lawmakers to value the lives of their constituents more than the campaign contributions they receive from the NRA by requiring more in-depth background checks, funding for gun violence prevention research, and passing stricter gun legislation that will make it harder for people to acquire automatic and semi-automatic guns.

Students' efforts won't just take place on Capitol Hill. On 14 March, students and teachers across the country will participate in a 17-minute walkout to both honour the lives of the Parkland victims and to encourage local, state, and national leaders to take action to ensure no other school has to endure the same loss and pain.