Department of Peace Walk-a-Thon

Department of Peace Walk-a-Thon
September 2006

On September 16th a 9:00 a.m. there will be a Walk-A-Thon, fund raiser and awareness raiser for the Department of Peace Bill that is in Congress. The Walk will begin at Alachua County Veterans Park on Tower Rd. We will walk south to the Publix shopping center on Archer Rd and than return to the Park, where there will be time for sharing and possibly some time for the Dances of Universal Peace. This Walk is happening in almost 100 cities across the United States, with the expressed purpose to raise money to pay of an office in Washington, D.C. to keep all congresspeople and the public aware of this bill.

People interested in being walkers can show up at 9:00 at the Park and bring a donation from $10 up. Naturally if some one wants to walk and has no money, support and intention is as important. If a walker wants to raise money from others, there are pledge forms to sign up others as sponsors and you can bring that money to the walk. To get a pledge form call 378-8735, and ask for Sh'mal. People bringing in at least $50 will be given a newly designed Department of Peace tee shirt. All signs and banners will be provided by the organizers.

The Department of Peace has as its focus the responsibilities we all have in establishing nonviolence as an organizing principal in society. Domestically it will seek causes of inner city violence, domestic violence, child-elder abuse, etc. On an international level, it will gather research, analyze foreign policy data, and make recommendations to the President on how to address the root causes of war before violence begins. The bill asks that the DOP be funded at 2% of the Department of Defense budget. Within the bill would be the offices of: Peace Education; Domestic Violence; International Violence; Technology for Peace; Arms Control and Disarmament; Peaceful Coexistence and Non-Violent Conflict Resolution, This is only a very brief description of the bill. More information can be found at: dopcampaign.org or ThePeaceAlliance.org which is the organization helping promote the bill.

This is the third time this particular bill has been brought to the House of Representatives. The bill currently has 77 co-sponsors along with a companion bill in the Senate that has two sponsors. All the sponsors are Democrats. Since the Civil War similar DOP bills have been brought before Congress almost a 100 times, but it is in our time that this bill is most needed. We all know this. It's becoming critical that we all do what we can to make peace a reality in our lifetime. The DOP is one way this can happen.

For more info contact Bob Sh'mal Ellenberg, 378-8735