A big thank you to "The White House" Ramada Inn Richland Centre for sponsoring our accommodation for the evening. It was pretty fun and exciting to stay at The White House!
Our first stop of the day was Hickory Hills Academy in Madison. This was our first time visiting this hidden gem and we look forward to a long friendship in the years to come! Pictured left to right are The Dahl family who own the school and camp, left to right, Jenny, Zach, Landon, Matt and Kailey.
The Academy was founded by Matts parents, it is a Montessori based school and summer camp, and focusses on cultivating compassion based leadership. On the far left is his sister, Heather, and second from the left is Matts mother, Sandra. They all led us on a tour/run!
We took a running tour of the beautiful school grounds which were lined by the children holding artwork of all different kinds.
Some had made beautiful big banners for us!
The youngest cheerleaders!
Once we reached the meeting place, we presented the Peace Run to a very enthusiastic audience of teachers and chlidren.
We offered our certificate of appreciation to all the wonderful staff, Matt spoke a little about the philosophy of the Academy and how well their values align with Sri Chinmoy's vision for The Peace Run.
Time to pass the torch!
Everyone had a chance to hold the torch and share their wishes for peace!
A big thank you to Jami Wilhelm, who payed a big role in organising our visit and welcoming us to the Academy.
Joe Monteith, HHA Summer on the Farm Director, gave us a warm welcome- thank you Joe!
Our next stop was the Madison Children's Museum, a really fun interactive creative space for children of all ages! We were invited to introduce the Peace Run.
Tom Linfield recently became the CEO of the Museum, and was happy to meet us on the street and show us how to get there!
A big thank you to Laurie for welcoming us to the Museum!
We made some sweet new friends!
Time to run! These kids led the way with Pransukh following close behind ;)
What a fun place! We wished we had more time to look around!
Our next stop in Madison was the Art Cart at Zook Park. The theme of the day was peace!
Art Cart is a free travelling program that provides creative, outdoor art-making experiences for children over the summer.
We met a couple of kids at the sandpit too!
Patricia and Izzi were our hosts for the event!
We were also very happy to meet Gary and Lynette, long time friends of Mudhavati, who helped organise our events in Madison. Lynette and Mudhavati grew up in Hawaii and were childhood friends!
Wonderstate Coffee happen to also have a location in Madison, and once again very generously offered our team coffee- needless to say everyone was very happy and grateful!
Our first Chicago ceremony was the Stepping up for Peace program at the Westside Health Authority where various speakers spoke of the value of peace in their lives and the contributions they have made to their communities.
Reverend James Coleman welcomes all the guests and invites everyone to take a moment to invoke peace so that it could serve as the foundation for this ceremony and that it could spread to all those who need it most.
Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run Executive Director Salil Wilson talks about the Peace Run values. He presents the US and Canada 2024 route and introduces the international team.
Peace Tree Project Director Pradhan Balter talks about the initiative of planting Peace Trees in different Chicago areas. So far more than 70 trees have been planted to commemorate the various selfless members of the community and dedicated toward the cause of peace.
Pastor Jackie Reed shared her inspiration and tireless work towards 'Growing Every Block Into a Village'. She has dedicated her life to serve children and adults from many Chicago areas. Her work helps to unite people and support them through difficult times. Her words of inspiration and hope flow from her self-giving heart. She is a true Torch Bearer and has previously been given the Award.
Ganapati John Coleman spoke on the importance of building a positive and loving community.
Vera Wardlaw was awarded the Torch Bearer Award for the lifetime work as school principal. She served countless children to become the best version of themselves
Kimberly Bright was awarded the Torch Bearer Award for her tireless and selfless work in serving the various communities in Chicago Westside.
Dr. Kimberley Gibson was awarded the Torch Bearer Award for her remarkable work as school principal in creating a positive and loving environment for the development of each child.
Our Torch Bearers and their relatives.
La Niece M. Dennis sings 'I Look to You'.
Rev. Johnny Harris sings 'A Change is Gonna Come'.
Pastor Jackie Reed and the members of the Good Neighbor Campaign hold the Torch in front of the newly planted Peace Tree.
Sri Chinmoy Peace Tree dedicated to Partor Jackie Reed. "Yesterday I sowed faith-seed. Today I am discovering a beautiful and fruitful peace tree". -Sri Chinmoy
Many community members hold the Peace Torch and make their wishes for world peace.
Rev. Johnny Harris holds the Torch with peace runners Edgars from Latvia and Gianluca from Croatia.
After the ceremony we are served a delicious vegetarian meal at Exodus. Thank you for the fabulous cooking :)
In front of the exodus building we spotted another Peace Tree :)
Our next visit was to Boxing Off the Block.
The athletes showed us some of their drills.
Jacob is 9 years old. He has joined the boxing club when he was 7. He has already learnt so much.
Peace runners in the ring...we get to talk about the Peace Run.
The children loved the World Harmony Run song and the actions.
They had a great time guessing our runners' countries.
Finally, each athlete, younger and older, shared what they learnt from their training. Their words were truly inspiring. Boxing taught them discipline, self-control and helped them to regulate their mood and make the right choices in their life.
Thank you Boxing Off the Block for this joyful meeting and for sharing with us the great work you do to promote well-being and peace in your community.
