PeaceJam holds event in Denver
PeaceJam, headquartered in Arvada, brought 10 Nobel Peace Prize winners to Denver this week to meet with 3,000 teens from 31 countries.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Costa Rica President Oscar Arias and the Dalai Lama were three peace emissaries among 10 Nobel Peace Prize laureates to gather this week to help PeaceJam celebrate its 10th anniversary, according to a released statement.
PeaceJam, a nonprofit educational organization, encourages children and teenagers worldwide to initiate community service projects and work for social change.
Ivan Suvanjieff and Dawn Engle are the founders of PeaceJam.
“It’s a global call for action to the youth of the world,” said Suvanjieff in a released statement. “I knew from the beginning I was right about the concept of PeaceJam: young people learning from Nobel Peace laureates, the moral authority of the world.”
The event was a $2.8-million undertaking hosted by the University of Denver and involved the Secret Service and State Department.
The laureates called on youths to perform a billion “acts of peace” over the next decade — from mentoring young children or planting a tree to pressing international leaders for peace.
PeaceJam got its beginning in 1994, when Suvanjieff confronted a group of teens, including one carrying a gun. He learned they didn’t know who the president was, but they knew Tutu, who won the Peace Prize in 1984 for his fight against South Africa’s apartheid.
Their connection struck a chord for Suvanjieff, who for two years worked with Engle to create PeaceJam.
The first rally was held in 1996. Since then, the group has hosted 125 conferences for laureates to interact with young participants and it anchors outreach programs across the world. For more about this group, go to www.peacejam.org.
Chamber forum to feature O’Donnell, Perlmutter
The Arvada Chamber of Commerce will hold a Candidates Issues Forum luncheon from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 26, featuring the first metro appearance between state House District 7 candidates Rick O’Donnell, a Republican, and Ed Perlmutter, a Democrat. Also appearing at the forum will be state Senate candidates Democrat Moe Keller and Republican Dick Sargent; state House District 29 candidates Democrat Debbie Bennefield and Republican Affie Ellis; and state House District 27 candidates Democrat Sara Gagliardi and Republican Bill Crane.
The forum will be at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd. Cost is $35 for chamber members and $40 for non-members. For more information, call the Arvada Chamber at 303-424-0313.
Firefighters to be in calendar
Three firefighters at the Arvada Fire Protection District will appear in the Fired Up for Kids 2007 firefighter calendar. Fired up is a nonprofit that donates proceeds to the Children’s Hospital Burn Center.
The calendars cost $15.00 and are available through the Tattered Cover Bookstore and the Virgin Megastore on the 16th Street Mall. For more, visit www.firedupforkids.org.
Businesses recognized
The Arvada Economic Development Association on Friday honored 11 Arvada businesses and gave out an entrepreneurial award.
Winners were selected based on criteria including community involvement, capital investment and employment.
Joe Jehn of Jehn Engineering received the Lloyd J. King Entrepreneurial Spirit Award.
Outstanding businesses were as follows: Advocate homes, Arvada Villa Pizzeria, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Culligan Construction, Curves for Women (two locations locally), ProtoMED Inc. and the Duck Co.
Officials presented an honorary award to the mother of Doug Ostrander, the former owner of La Dolce Vita who died earlier this year.