Kids for Peace Spread Holiday Cheer With a Joyful Senior Sing-Along

Kids for Peace has been busy spreading holiday cheer this season. We have "adopted" families, marched in holiday parades, made cards for friends in an orphanage and participated in holiday caroling. At one gathering, a group of over 20 children sang fun and festive songs at a senior center in Carlsbad, California. The children were accompanied on guitar by our Kids for Peace friend, Travis Pauck. Thanks Travis!!! Hugs were given freely and love was felt by all. During this season and always, we send you wishes of peace, love and happiness!!!

Peaceful Rally to Save the Seals

It seems that children and adults have firm ideas about saving the harbour seals of La Jolla. At a rally on Sunday, November 23rd, about twenty five children from Kids for Peace, along with many of their parents joined with members of the ‘Save Our San Diego Seals “ coalition at Casa Beach to let their voice be publically heard.

The children sang an original song, written for the occasion, exclaiming that the seals were beautiful and needed our protection. While arranged in rows against the backdrop of about forty seals lying on the beach basking in the afternoon sun, the children’s passion rang out crystal clear.

After the song, La Jolla Friends of the Seals docent Jerry Horna led the group out to the seawall and allowed the children to see the sleeping seals up close, while still keeping the twenty-five foot separation, a distance that seals are most comfortable with. The children held up home made posters they had colored themselves, carrying the message to “Save Our Seals” and “Kids love the seals and don’t want to swim here”. No seals were “flushed” or sent fleeing back into the water, even with the large crowd standing along the seawall.

Jerry emphasized to them that the seals have been using this specific location long before the seawall was built, and that those born here instinctively return or never really leave. The most interesting fact is that the colony has reached a maximum carrying capacity (comfortable number supported by the resources)of about two hundred, and have stayed at that number for several years.

Upon their return to the rally point, the children all signed a petition to the San Diego City Council declaring their wish that the council improve on their efforts to preserve this rookery and beach as a safe haul-out site for the colony. Plans are now underway for the children to make a presentation of the petition at a January session of the council. Members of the coalition handed out flyers to the public urging them to contact their councilperson with the same message.

-Ellen Shively

Perrysburg Kids for Peace in Ohio March in Veteran's Day Parade

Our little Kids for Peace group in Perrysburg, Ohio is really taking off. We were lucky enough to participate in our local Veteran's Day parade a few weeks ago. We had been having unseasonably warm weather until the day of the parade and then 35 degrees and rain....YIKES...but the kids were troopers. We bundled up, brought the dogs and all the little siblings and had a great time. Several of the crowd members cheered as we spread our wish for peace. The kids gave handouts, offering each person a "wish for peace," that they created themselves. Thanks to the Kids for Peace family for letting us join you all!!!!

Global Warming Beach Rally

Kids for Peace attended a Greenpeace beach rally to take a stand to end Global Warming. We were greeted enthusiastically as we led the crowd in our Peace Pledge and shared why it is important to stop global warming. It felt great to speak out for our earth!

Halloween Treats at a Senior Center

Kids for Peace had some Pre-Halloween fun with their elder friends at a senior center in San Diego. Love was felt as our children paraded in their costumes and enjoyed a delightful magic show with our very own Kids for Peace Magician (AKA Glenn Pinto). One young princess noted, "It feels great to give love! This is even better than getting candy!" Yes, indeed!

Wishes for Our World

Kids for Peace joined together with children throughout our community to create Wishes for Our World during our Walk for Peace and Friendship Festival. Some of the beautiful wishes: 1. A United Nation 2. Care for All Animals 3. A Healthy Planet 4. Peace for Young and Old 5. Food and Freedom for All 6. Our Earth to Be Shaped Like a Heart And Many More.....

2008 Walk for Peace and Friendship Festival Rob Machado Is Our Peace Hero!!

Our 2008 Walk for Peace and Friendship Festival was a beautiful success! Nearly a thousand people came out to celebrate the International Day of Peace. It was an inspiration to hear our children share their wishes for our world as they presented gorgeous hand-painted banners. It was also a special treat to present Rob Machado with our 2008 Peace Hero Award. His warmth, kindness and caring ways were evident as he graciously received his award. We thank all of our Community Peace Partners, Event Sponsors, talented performers, three TV stations, dedicated interns and numerous volunteers for making our 3rd annual event such a joyful and peace-filled day!

Kids for Peace at EarthDance 2008

Kids for Peace was honored to be the beneficiary of San Diego's EarthDance 2008. It was a wonderful afternoon full of music, celebration and community. Thousands of people came out to celebrate and dance for peace. We enjoyed performing our theme song and Peace Pledge on one of the three stages. We are grateful to Marcus, of We Are One, for making this all possible. Joining together, we ARE creating Peace On Earth.

Paws for Peace

"The human-animal relationship is one of the cornerstones of a just and compassionate society." -Gus W. Thornton, DVM

Kids for Peace shared their love of animals at the Humane Society during our Paws for Peace event. We brought items to donate to the animals' Wish List and then had a very informative behind the scenes tour of the beautiful San Diego facility. A very big thank you to Heather, one of our Kids for Peace interns, for planning every detail of this lovely outing. Through our love and respect of animals, our children are further creating a compassionate and just society.

The Great Kindness Challenge 2008

Our First Annual Great Kindness Challenge was a beautiful success!!! Our children blanketed the world with their good deeds and sweet love. Hearts on cars, cookies to the firefighters, flowers on doorsteps, lemonade stands for the Humane Society, thank you notes to our mail carriers, hugs for our police officers, making new friends and hearts in the sand...It was an amazing day! Our world is indeed a sweeter place because of all this love.

The San Diego Kids for Peace families celebrated the joy with a beach bonfire. A special thank you to our fabulous interns who arrived at the beach at 5 AM to reserve a fire pit. Because of their dedication, we were able to enjoy S'mores and tales of our kind deeds around the bonfire.

It was truly a magical day! Thank you to everyone who participated.

Recording Our Kids for Peace Theme Song

Thanks to Grammy Award Winning producer, Chris Goldsmith, Kids for Peace recorded our inspiring theme song. This beautiful song was written by Kids for Peace mother-daughter duo, Thia and Missy. With happy hearts, we experienced being recording artists! The delightful song will soon be available for downloading. Wow! We are super stars!!!

Kids for Peace Interns Attend Do Something Boot Camp and Teen Choice Awards Pre-Party

Kids for Peace interns Roger Li and Heather Bui attended the Do Something Boot Camp at the Roosevelt Hotel in LA on August 2nd. It was a conference for motivated teens to learn the ins-and-outs of running a non-profit organization. They got to meet many like-minded young adults who were doing incredible things in the world as well as listen to informative speakers, including Nancy Lublin, the CEO of Do Something (shown in the third picture with Heather and Roger). As an added bonus, Heather and Roger were able to attend the Teen Choice Awards Pre-Party afterwards at Level 3 nightclub. They were able to meet many celebrities, including Emily Osment from Hannah Montana and Cole Sprouse from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. There were also performances by America's Best Dance Crew, Jesse McCartney, and others. But the main focus that night was the Do Something Br!ck Awards given out to 9 amazing young people doing extraordinary things (as shown in the first picture). Overall, it was an amazing day and experience, and Kids for Peace is so grateful to have participated in it!!