2010 Peace Project praises peace during the Vancouver Olympic

Not all champions are found speeding down the mountain or flying across the ice. Some champions are found in the street helping the homeless or in a classroom teaching young people. During the games, the 2010 Peace Project, at Memories Thrift Store across the street from Richmond City Hall, will feature just such champions.

The champions range from local grandmothers who got together to help the grandmothers of South Africa raising their AIDS-orphaned grandchildren, to high school students who produced an award winning video on how to enthuse kids about the environment. (After winning the VANOC award for their work, these teens and their video were invited guests at a UN conference in Korea.)

The Peace Project will feature a different champion sharing their successes, techniques and enthusiasm with all our international visitors each day of the games. Depending on the day, visitors wandering in will find everything from a chat with the grannies, to the teens’ video, to a performance by Margaret Dragu who combines prairie sensibility, a love of ironing, a passion for women’s rights and performance art.

“It’s not enough to point out gritty world problems. Our champions have found solutions; they are making a difference. We can learn from them. When the world comes to Richmond, the Peace Project will showcase our successes and hopefully spur others on to do the same.”

With a history of helping the rural poor and inner city youth, Tammy Lindahl co-manager of Memories Thrift store says, “ It’s not a enough to pick at the sores of the world, tugging at heart strings and pointing out problems. As Margaret Mead said, ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.’ People can solve these problems and we have people right here in Richmond who are actively solving problems with skill, determination, and joy.”

All the champions have a common theme, peace. According to one of the initiators of the project, Martha Juillerat “Peace-making has been at the heart of the Olympic movement since the games began. It is this spirit of peaceful interchange among countries we hope to honour with the Peace Project”

“And we’ll have no peace, no end to violence until there’s enough to eat, a safe place to live, and equality for every person. So when the Olympics are over and the world goes home, they will take back hope and inspiration. We hope the Peace Project will encourage change around world.” says, Juillerat.

With the online version of the Peace Project already going viral with messages from around the world, the actual event will be hopping. As Tammy Lindahl says, “ Come in. Drop by. It’ll be fun, it’ll be uplifting and it will be practical.”

Winners of the "Champions of Peace" initiative

• Affordable Housing: David Reay, for his years of work with the Richmond Poverty Response Committee and other affordable housing initiatives.
• Food Security/Eliminating Hunger: Richmond Food Bank Society
• Human Rights: Martha Juillerat, for her years of work in civil rights, with victims of domestic violence, and in championing the rights of women & lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons
• Immigration and Settlement: S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Immigration Services Agency
• Diversity/Multiculturalism: Richmond Multicultural Concerns Society
• Arts & Culture: Margaret Dragu, for her work in promoting peace through the arts
• Social Justice: Debbie Kirk, who has inspired many young people through her simple, daily acts of kindness on behalf of the poor and homeless
• Young Person Who is a Leader in Social Justice: Anastasia Kirk, for her work with the World Wildlife Fund, Oxfam, and other international relief efforts
• Environment: Darrick Lee and Michael Darnel, secondary school students who have inspired their school faculty with their work on a wide variety of environmental projects
• Equality of Women: Gail Thompson, for her service to Richmond Women’s Resource Centre, the Peer-to-Peer support program, the Richmond Council’s Senior’s Advisory Committee, and for her many years acting as an extraordinary mentor for women
• Disability Rights: David Thomson, a disabled person who, through the creation of programs like “Living Well with Chronic Conditions”, and through the example of the way in which he lives his own life, has brought coping skills, self-esteem, support and hope to others living with disabilities
• Mental Health Advocacy: Jennifer Larson, “a person who stands with those needing to find their voice,” who has been a tireless advocate on behalf of those living with mental illness and community educator striving to end the stigma surrounding persons with mental illness
• Senior Advocacy: Jean Sickman, “a political activist always willing to lobby for a righteous cause to make living safe and fair for all”, she has advocated for seniors through national lobbying groups and has also offered health and safety seminars for seniors in many isolated areas of British Columbia
• Peacemaking: St. Alban Anglican Church, for their creation of a Peace Labyrinth and a visionary program for using the labyrinth to promote peace and strengthen community