CAMP PEACE PRINTS:  JUSTICE FOR ALL!!

“Darles a los niños ropa y comida es una cosa, pero es mucho más importante enseñarles que otras personas además de ellos son importantes y

que lo mejor que pueden hacer con sus vidas es usarlas al servicio de otras personas.”  — Dolores Huerta

We are excited to offer our 15th annual Camp Peaceprints to the community – a tremendous opportunity for our children and youth to learn and explore social justice in a diverse group – to work and play to Be The Change we want (and need) to see in the world and to have fun!! Camp Peaceprints, a collaboration between the SSJ Sr. Karen Klimczak Center for Nonviolence (SKC) and the WNY Peace Center (WNYPC), offers campers aged 8-13 an alternative day camp focused on Justice, Peaceful Conflict Resolution, and the Arts. It will run July 18-29, Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM (except for two or three of the field trip days!). It’ll take place at SS. Columba-Brigid Church, at 75 Hickory Street, Buffalo 14204 (opposite the JFK Recreation Center).

We have exciting field trips – to Niagara Falls where we’ll go on Maid of the Mist, and explore the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Museum; and to Ganondagan, Seneca Center with Longhouse and Haudenosaunee teachings. We’re also planning a trip to the beach and three trips to the pool! We have opportunities for adult volunteers. Parents and community members are especially welcome to help with transportation needs – both in getting children to Camp, as well as to field trips and/or swimming trips. (Unfortunately, the City won’t be opening the JFK pool, apparently due to a lifeguard shortage.) We provide gas money for servicing camp transportation needs. Many parents have found this a wonderful way to share more fully in their children’s camp experiences.

The children and youth who attend will get to explore justice issues with community leaders, including Citizenship; the Law and Law Enforcement; the Justice System (as it is called) – “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” and especially How to Work for Change.

Cariol Horne – local shero and a nationally known former police officer who was fired for stopping a fellow officer from choking a community member; proponent of the City-adopted #CariolsLaw – will facilitate a session on Law and Law Enforcement.

WNYPC’s Executive Director, Deidra EmEl, will facilitate numerous portions of the programs, which include Mindfulness, Movement, and Music. SKC’s Director, Vivian Waltz, will lead experiential learning exercises from the Alternatives to Violence Project. Art Educator Jan Burns, Director of the Focus on Consequences for Adolescents (a program of the Prevention Council of Erie County). will facilitate art sessions related to the themes, including an art session at the beach.  —- For more information, including online registration, please go to the Camp Peaceprints page on sisterkarencenter.org. For questions, contact Vivian by email at vivian@sisterkarencenter.org or by phone at 716.982.6501.