Photos of this inspirational program are now available in the GPF NY slide show.

October 25, 2008

Saturday October 18^th we had a peace dedication in Marcus Garvey Park, Manhattan. We had music, a history presentation of the park and neighborhood, a Global Peace Festival banner painting, a peace tree planting and we talked of the importance of peace in our communities and the world. College students, park administrators, people from the surrounding community, and even some youth passing by joined to celebrate our peace dedication. We collected 9 trees for Marcus Garvey Park, from a Million Trees NYC tree give away in Brooklyn. We dedicated a Sawtooth Oak tree for Peace and everyone who came out on Saturday made a pledge of peace by tying an orange peace ribbon onto the Peace tree.  People of interreligious and intercultural backgrounds gathered together with the common goal and will for peace.

On the same day we had youth in Flushing, Queens and midtown Manhattan, out collecting canned goods for the Global Peace Festival’s Million Acts of Service and Kindness food drive. There were about 10 high school aged kids in Queens and 12 in Manhattan. The kids met up in Manhattan at 11am and went out until 2pm collecting goods by going door to door in apartment buildings. They asked for donations of cans for the drive, which also served as acts of service and kindness to go towards the count of the Million Acts of Service and Kindness initiative. Altogether the youth raised 300 canned goods from Saturday and they had an enjoyable experience interacting within their communities and serving the cause.

Last Thursday, October 23^rd, at the Global Peace Festival in the Manhattan Center, we were able to raise more goods for the food drive from the attendees. So far, in total for the food drive we have raised about 1600 pounds of goods.

This food drive has been going on since the middle of September of this year and will continue through Thanksgiving and all proceeds will be given to City Harvest of NYC.

GPF Chicago held a beautiful and inspiring celebration on October 25 at the Wyndham O’Hare Hotel.  A photo gallery is available here.

Check out all the details at www.chicagogpf.com.

Chicago Banner Contest underway!

GPF New York is holding an inspirational program and celebration on October 23, 2008 at the Manhattan Center in New York City.  Details are available on the GPF New York flyer.

Take a look at photos of this beautiful program at the GPF Los Angeles Photo Gallery.

• Report on Atlanta on Global Peace Festival.org
• GPF Atlanta photo gallery

You can register your acts of service and kindness at www.millionacts.org.

To read more about what the Points of Light Institute is doing on this project, you can refer to this article on the Global Peace Festival international website.

Last Saturday, the underlying Vision of One Family Under God and the Global Peace Festival was conveyed to a crowd of over 200 young people and their families. Walker Mill Baptist Church was able to host a myriad of incredible performers, traveling from within the community and afar. The program featured local dance groups like the Victory Word Praise Dancers and the TKU Dance Team, and musical performances by the Christian Love Baptist Youth Choir and the Ribbon Singers. We also saw a wonderful display of cultural bhangra dance from the Universal Brotherhood, as well as multi-racial, multi-ethnic diversity in the Interfaith Rock Band. Our out-of-town performers included Te’ Luvv from Tennessee and Natman from North Carolina. Community partners represented at the Rally included ROOT, Inc. and the Alliance of Concerned Men, both of which resonate with the Rally’s theme of ‘quitting the violence’ through models of peace.

The entire event was able to raise over $4500 in in-kind and monetary donations within Prince George’s County. Of the donations we received, some gifts that made the event all the more exciting included a very large sheet cake, a $50 Old Navy gift card, and a three-day, two-night travel vacation for four. The entire sound system and staging was also generously donated.

We want to thank everyone who attended and contributed, even in the simplest ways, toward the event. The Youth Rally received coverage from Fox 5 news, making a great impact on the community and creating a buzz about the upcoming Global Peace Festival. Again, the Youth Rally was a precursor to the Global Peace Festival, taking place this Saturday, August 9^th at the National Mall (Capitol West Lawn), from 5pm-8pm.

Please invite your family, friends, and everyone you know to Saturday’s celebration. Yolanda Adams, David Phelps, and other artists will be on the stage that evening, as well as speeches from such distinguished guests as Michael Beckwith, Dr. Hyun Jin Moon, and Rev. Walter Fountroy.

Prior to the event, there will also be a Service and Cultural Expo from 2-5pm, between 3^rd and 4^th Street on the National Mall. Bring a non-perishable food item to the Expo and support a major project to construct a replica of the capitol building, made entirely out of canned goods. All the food donations will be given to local DC food banks, which have experienced a shortage recently.

We hope to see you all again this Saturday to this FREE celebration of compassion, family, and peace.

May God bless you and your family.

Sincerely,

Mika Kuwlahara

Interfaith Outreach

GPF Youth Council

Global Peace Festival USA