A walk can raise money and build awareness for the local and national campaign in Downtown Riverside on Saturday.

What: 5^th Annual Walk for a U.S. Department of Peacebuilding

Where: In front of Downtown Riverside Library on Mission Ave.

When: Saturday, September 25, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. (registration begins)

The Inland Empire Do Peace and Nonviolence Alliance’s (IEDOPNA.blogspot.org) Annual Walk for a Department of Peacebuilding began with a group of eight women — students, mothers, and a grandmother who walked along the sidewalk in front of Ontario Mills with posters promoting the establishment of a U.S. Department of Peace.  They were greeted with honks of support and raised money for the national campaign.  Since then, the group has grown and has twice hosted the walk on Hospitality Lane in San Bernardino, and last year, in Downtown Riverside. The 5th Annual Walk for a Department of Peacebuilding will once again be held starting at the Riverside Library in Downtown.  The walk course includes a visit to the Martin Luther King, Jr. statue in front of Riverside City Hall and the reflection area in front of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on Mission Ave.

Cathy Clemens, the organizer of this year’s walk, sought out partnerships with several local social justice and peace organizations dedicated to finding and promoting solutions to violence including Inland Communities Fellowship of Reconciliation (IC FOR), Citizen’s Action for Peace (CAP), and the Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Riverside who will also be hosting a potluck lunch after the walk.  A group of students from Murrieta and Fontana will also join in the walk.  “We want the campaign and our walk to be as inclusive as possible.  Peace and violence do not know party affiliations, nor religious beliefs, nor age, region, ethnic background or anything else that might separate people,” said Cathy, “It’s important that everyone work together and be a part of the solution.”

“The World Health Organization reports that the United States spends $300 billion a year on the after effects of interpersonal violence, and homicide is the second leading cause of death for youth between the ages of 10 and 24 years-old,” said Bobbi Jo Chavarria, the State Regional Coordinator of the Peace Alliance’s Campaign for a U.S. Department of Peacebuilding and founder of IEDOPNA. “Those are unsustainable and unacceptable costs. We have to do better at addressing violence and focus our resources on solutions to the root causes of violence, to save money and to save lives.”

The purpose of the walk is to raise awareness and funds for the local and national campaign for a U.S. Department of Peace.  Contributions can be made online at www.meetup.com/iedopna or you can call (909) 262-2880 for more information.