Warrenton, Virginia was the first community to be officially designated a “Community of Peace,” and is the place where many of our “firsts” are done.
The iconic representation of our programs is a peace pole and peace garden, which we dedicated for Warrenton’s Rady Park in June of 2009. Interfaith representation and blessings, peace promises from Warrenton’s schoolchildren, musical selections from the Fauquier High School band, and representatives from both town and county government made the dedication a memorable one. Our African collaborator, Reverend Ambassador Princess Elizabeth Ogbon-Day, gave special blessings from the African continent.
Two international exchange programs have been started, involving both public and private schools in Warrenton. Children in PB Smith Elementary School and Highland school have exchanged sections of the Children’s Cloth of Many Colors, and personal letters with the Afghan children. The PB Smith children have raised at least $1,000 to help purchase school supplies for the children in the Sher Mohammed School, and have an ongoing relationship with the Afghan children.
A local business stepped in to help the Warrenton children, when the Air-Serv Humanitarian Airline personally flew the Highland children’s gifts and letters to the children in the Aisha Durani School, taking pictures on each side. The chief international pilot spoke to the Highland children, educating them as to the nature of the company’s humanitarian mission.
Community collaboration was evident in our commemorative peace event on September 10, 2002. Remembering the events of the prior year, we wanted to focus on “the kind of a world that we do want.” Sections for the Children’s Cloth were made by hundreds of children from Warrenton’s churches, schools, scout troups, Boys and Girls Club and homeschoolers. Visiting children from Hawaii performed at Highland School, teaching the Warrenton children how to chant and do Hawaiian dances. These children also performed for the Warrenton City Council, as Mayor George Fitch gave them the keys to the city, formally declaring Warrenton a Community of Peace. Many local businesses participated, along with officials from Partnership for Warrenton, public school officials, and town/county representatives. Hundreds of volunteers contributed to make the event, held on the Courthouse Steps, a meaningful one.
Children from “The Haven,” Warrenton’s homeless shelter, made a section for the Children’s Cloth of Many Colors that will be featured at the upcoming Global Summit for the Global Alliance for Departments and Ministries of Peace, in Cape Town South Africa in October of 2011 (click here). The children were particularly engaged by the thought that their section would join others from children all across the world, in illustrating their wishes for “peace” while depicting peace as "home". It was a vulnerable time for them, and it gave them hope as well as the identification with a larger mission.
We always have a focus on “what’s possible,” whether we’re working with children or adults. In that vein, we’ve sponsored children from the Boys and Girls club to present a program at the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC, where they described the projects that they’ve participated in with us. In another situation, we’ve brought children from the Boys and Girls Club to an environmental event at the State Department, where they received a private tour. One of the children had the opportunity to personally describe an environmental project to then Secretary of State Colin Powell. A few years later, we sponsored this same child, Henri Yount, to the United Nations Conference on Children and the Environment. Five hundred children from fifty countries were in attendance.
All of our events are done with interfaith collaboration. In March of 2011, we sponsored a successful Community Sustainability meeting, focused on “Food Preparedness.” The event was co-sponsored by St. James Episcopal Church, with a presentation made by LDS church members. Plans are underway for subsequent meetings, with additional focus on food, energy, communication and health as next agendas. In keeping with the “sustainability” focus, we facilitated a program where students from all of the Warrenton Elementary Schools and Fauquier High School gave their unused school supplies to the Warrenton Food Bank for distribution.
Along with practitioners from the Christian Science Church, we’ve co-sponsored a number of interfaith prayer evenings.
We’ve initiated a Reiki volunteer program at the Fauquier Hospital, with volunteers performing hundreds of these stress-reducing, energy balancing treatments.
Our programs in Warrenton are ongoing. Point person is Gerry Eitner, gerry7253@gmail.com
