Thanks to participants, supporters and coordinators of activities in February and September
Azzam Shafi and Flora Holland
Danny Zandbergen and Global Flower Trading
Arno van Staalduinen
Maijid Halawani
Tony's Chocolonely
Time Out Amsterdam
Weekkrant Amsterdam
Jacek Rajewski
Netty Klomp
Elena Kravtchenko/IsidoraD
Sjors Beenker
Whole Life Times
Henny Groot
Morten Arstad
Marijn Wensveen
Harry Loco
Amsterdam FM
Jeroen Blankert
Ger Groot
Thomas Reineke
Jaap Simonis
Zbigniew Maciak
Ronald Merlin
Roslyn Layton
Agneszka Sadlakowska
Rajab Mohamadin
Ned Cars
Samantha Feelix
Gabriel van Jones
Pam Evans and Peace Mala - Wales
Albino (albino.be)
Hub Amsterdam and Hub Rome
Hub King's Cross and Hub Islington
Anna Barnouw and Felix Meritis - Amsterdam
Haëlla Stichting - The Hague
Stadsdeel Oud-Zuid - Amsterdam
Alaina Paradise and One World Flowers
Stichting Max Havelaar
Casper Voogt and Plethora Design
Build On
Everyone at United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY)
Stuurbloemen
Preijde Bulbs
Red Vic House - San Francisco
Kai Wilson
Georgia Freeman-Harvey
Kathy Gallegos and Avenue 50 Studios - Highland Park
Tekki Lomnicki, Nancy Andria and Matthew Kopp - Tellin' Tales Theatre - Chicago
Carrie Spitler and Lynn Steadman - Neighborhood Writing Alliance - Chicago
Mariska van Dekken en het Partij voor Mens en Spirit
Carolyn Dixon and FTD
Ed Touissant en het Anjerwerkerij Nieuwland - Hoek van Holland
Annelies van Dam
Pieternel de Bie
Everyone at Green Graffiti
Nico Bulatoff
Terri Glass and California Poets in Schools - San Francisco
Lies Leen and the staff of Buurtcentrum de pijp - Amsterdam
Laurie Brown and Marlborough School - Los Angeles
LaShawn Moore and McKinley Elementary - Santa Monica
My Friend's Place - Los Angeles
Teresa Padua and the staff of the Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic
San Francisco Poet Terri Glass
Rabobank Amsterdam Noord
Anne-Claire Frank
Lara and Jan Toensmann
Nico de Bruijn
Lucy Baker
Wijkcentrum d'Oude Stadt
***
2009
Los Angeles
Marcielle Brandler and the Tree of Life Center
Paul Revere Middle School
Aviva Family and Children's Services
Dorsey High School
Marlborough High School
McKinley Elementary School
Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic
Vine Elementary School
Alvarado Elementary School
McGaugh Elementary School
HOLA after school program
My Friends Place
Coordinator Georgia Freedman-Harvey
Coordinator Jacob Finn
San Francisco
Northern California AmeriCorps InterCorps Council
Build On
Coordinator Kai Wilson
Coordinator Rachel Trocano
Chicago
Mess Hall
Chicago Park District
Neighborhood Writing Alliance
Asimina Chremos - Silverspace
Code Pink and Sue Eleuterio
New York
NCS Residence
Yorkville Common Pantry
Casa Mutua Residence
Park Avenue Women's Shelter
Coordinator Millicent Cavanaugh
Coordinator Mary Myers
Wales
Peace Mala
St. Helen's Primary School - Swansea
Neath Port Talbot College
Lampeter College (Univ. of Wales)
Berlin
Hub Berlin
Jannes Riemann
Frauke Godat
Benjamin Degenhart
Antwerp, Belgium
Creatief Schrijven
De Muzeval
Amsterdam
Eduard Douwes Dekkerhuis
Dorus Rijkers School
Nova College
IBFD (Ibfd.org)
Combiwel Buurtcentra
Oude Kerk
Rietwijker
Boomsspijker
Martyn Claybrough
De Roos
ABC Treehouse
Wijkcentrum d'Oude Stadt
Rima Freeman and Hub Amsterdam (True Valentine)
Linde ten Broek (versidee.nu)
Ilonka Verdurmen and the School der Poezie
The Hague
Valentijn and De Haagse Hogeschool
Thanks also to Global Flower Trading, FTD Floral, Tony Chocolonely, and the Dutch Flower Council (see Partners).
And to participants everywhere who have contacted me from rural US to Japan - for participating in your own creative way in what peace means to you and sharing that with someone on Cupid's special day-
(From Oh, Cupid by Megan Kincaid, Paul Revere Middle School, Los Angeles)
Valentine's day is a harsh holiday
For those who you have forgotten
To strike with the tips of your arrow
Nobody wants to be alone
So if you use the bow to bring the world together
Nobody will ever be alone
And we the mortals may be as happy
As the gods?
But we can't put all the blame
For no world peace on a baby with a bow
The inhabitants of the world must unify we must take the first steps
And Cupid will help us once we have tried
Even though we try to think not
But our steps are more important than
A bow.
Our steps to love and peace are
Larger than you know.
2008
Special thanks to FTD Floral, De Nederlandse anjertelers and Moois (ilovemoois.nl)
Thanks to new schools, volunteer participants and programs that participated this year.
USA
NY Coordinator - Katie Rosenthal
LA Coordinator - Raha Tabankia
New in Los Angeles -
Paul Revere Middle School
McKinley Elementary School (Santa Monica)
Hollywood Sunset Free Clinic
Tree of Life Center and Western Justice Center (Pasadena)
New in New York -
Building With Books (Bronx)
Berkeley Carroll School
Bikram Yoga
The Tea Lounge
Chicago -
Nancy Andria and the Chicago Park District
Idaho -
Idaho Student Peace Alliance
The Netherlands
Amsterdam -
Nova College Esprit
AOC Oost Almelo
Dorus Rijkerschool
De Buurtcentrums in de Pijp
Wales -
Peace Mala
Returning Participants -
Mosaic the City - BC, Canada
In Los Angeles
Camino Nuevo Charter Academy
The Hollywood Little Red Schoolhouse
Markham Middle School
Vine Elementary
Marlborough High School
Pilgrim School
Heart of Los Angeles
Brentwood School
My Friends Place
Thousands of carnations, tulips and other flowers were distributed with poetry in Amsterdam. Thousands of carnations were distributed with poetry in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Thousands of carnations were distributed in the varied communities of Los Angeles. Poems were shared also in Chicago, Victoria B.C. Canada and in Idaho by the Idaho Student Peace Alliance as well as in varied communities throughout the world that discovered this Project! Workshops were held thanks to community organizers. Also thanks to the many participants in different parts of the Netherlands as well as the US - in rural communities who contacted us that made their own flowers to share or passed out favorite poems and held workshops around themes of peace - a Valentine's season to remember.
***
2007
Thanks to Izzy's class in Australia!
Thank you to Kelly Paper in California, filmaker Jeff Freeman,
Pilgrim School and Unknown Theater in Los Angeles.
We are also very grateful to Community Partners
for their guidance, encouragement and support.
Special thanks to poetry submissions from David
Whyte, Mary Jane Sullivan, Charles P. Ries, Marshall
Rosenberg, Stephen Mead, Mary Kennedy Eastham,
Marcielle Brandler, Giovanna Imbesi, Julie
Christensen, Allison Crowe and Yoko Ono.
About one thousand five hundred carnations were
given for distribution to the above participating
programs as well as volunteers who went to varied
locations throughout Southern California: St. John's Hospital,
Pomona, Santa Monica, Venice, West Hollywood and
downtown Los Angeles.
Thanks also (not mentioned above) to The HeArt Project and A Window between Worlds in Southern California.
More than one thousand carnations were distributed
on the subways and streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Many hearts were touched at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica,
among the businesses of downtown LA; shoppers at the Third
St. Promenade and beachgoers on the Venice Beach
boardwalk. Some individuals read their poems aloud,
shared them with their children, and took them home
to friends and family.
People shared their poems with the train conductor and each
other on the F train in Brooklyn and the stations and trains
in downtown Manhattan.
A Canadian group visited their local Emergency Room.
An Australian girls school visited their surrounding neighborhood.
Workshops on the building blocks for lasting peace were held in
community centers.
Participants everywhere are creating a Valentine's day memorable and
meaningful each year.
Please contact us to be involved as a participant or volunteer!
Peacebuilding reminds us of the true power of love - as one
Marlborough High School student stated in her poem submission:
Love.
What a charged word.
What a personal word.
What other word could evoke such strong feelings
and memories than love?
I have felt pain, sadness, joy, tears, laughter,
It has meant many things to me.
And as I look around, I see there is something
special about it.
About love.
Because whenever I have tried,
I have always been able to find it.
In Myself.
In a Book that inspires me.
In Family.
In my Dad's cooking.
In Friends.
In the eyes of a stranger.
In a soup kitchen.
In an airport.
The key is to never stop looking.
Thank you,
Federico Hewson
Project Director