Santa Maria Sun / School Scene

Come together, right now

With September comes Peace Week, the annual weeklong event that encourages local residents to meditate on the virtues of peace and unity.

Flying free: Children at the Abel Maldonado Community Youth Center released doves at last year’s Peace Builder Award ceremony, the closing event of Santa Maria’s annual Peace Week. FILE PHOTO

“There is so much violence in the world; we have come together to focus on promoting and building peace now and in the future. Peace Week reminds us that one by one, we must be peacemakers,” Sister Janet Corcoran, vice president of Mission Services at Marian Regional Medical Center and chair of the People for Nonviolence Committee, said in a press release.

This year’s Peace Week begins on Sept. 14 with a Peace Chair presentation at Mary Buren Elementary School in Guadalupe, a neighborhood fiesta on Sept. 16 at the North Railroad Boys and Girls Club, and an anti-bullying workshop for parents on Sept. 18.

There will be a closing ceremony luncheon on Sept. 20 at noon at the Abel Maldonado Community Youth Center, 516 S. McClelland St., in Santa Maria, where there will be a free lunch for all attendees, an inspirational message from a former Los Prietos Boys Camp student, and the presentation of the annual Peace Builder Award.

Peace Week is organized by the People for Nonviolence Committee of Marian Regional Medical Center, which is made up of hospital employees and residents from the Santa Maria, Orcutt, and Guadalupe areas.

Some other organizations involved in this year’s Peace Week celebrations include CASA, the city of Santa Maria, Conflict Solutions Center, Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley, the Santa Maria Bonita School District, the Santa Maria Valley Discovery Museum, the Santa Maria Police Department, Teen Court, and WonHeart.

All Peace Week events are free and open to the public.

For more information, including a full schedule of events, visit marianmedicalcenter.org or call the hospital’s marketing department at 739-3594.