Mission

Friends for Peace, Inc. is non-profit organization whose mission is to raise funds for the City of Newburyport’s diversity initiatives in order to promote inclusion, tolerance and diversity and to end discrimination in our community.

Accomplishments

Each year, working with the Commission for Diversity and Tolerance, Friends for Peace awards a series of mini-grants to local groups that support our mission.

In 2008-2009, funds were distributed to the following programs:

    • Literacy Support of Newburyport Public Schools (NPS) K-3: Providing a selection of books that promote inclusion, tolerance and diversity.

    • Commission for Diversity and Tolerance Training: Workshop provided for Commission members and other officials on prejudice and hate as well as promoting healing, understanding and tolerance.

    • YWCA Racial Justice Activities: Enhance and strengthen the Y’s racial and justice curriculum in the Afternoon Program run at the Public Schools and bring area high school youth together with adults in an interactive program related to social justice at the Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast.

    • Newburyport Public Schools, English Language Learners(ELL’s): By increasing the ELL’s access to thematic books, a sense of welcome and inclusion will be promoted for students and their families.

    • PROTECT at Newburyport High School: Peers Reaching Out To Encourage Complete Tolerance, a student run high school organization seeking to educate community about issues of injustice and intolerance in order to promote change both locally and globally.

    • Newburyport Public Schools, Diversity and Tolerance through Summer Reading: To help middle school students better understand diversity and tolerance trough literature.

    • Therapeutic Horseback Riding Summer Camp: To provide ‘at risk’ students with a variety of learning, behavioral and or emotional needs with exposure and experience in horseback riding to build relationships with others and respect of another living thing.

    • River Valley Charter School the Open Circle Curriculum Training: 2 teachers trained in curriculum which addresses issues such as, handling anger appropriately and accepting differences.

    • Peacing Workshops: Six week program for younger children to teach peace-making skills through different approaches.

    • Commission for Diversity and Tolerance May Activities: Ceremony in recognition of students and adults in the community who have served as examples to others in the lives they lead to promote inclusion and tolerance and award luncheon for mini-grant recipients.

    • Kids as Peacemakers, Second Annual Peace in the Park Celebration: Goal of event is to raise awareness in the community for the need for peace in homes, community and the world.

    • Chaplaincy Institute of Maine: Series of public presentations on different faith traditions presented by spiritual leaders of each faith. (Program could include: Christian Science, Mormonism, Sufism and others) To be held monthly January through May at the Newburyport Public Library.

    • Holocaust Memorial Service: To educate the community about past and present intolerance and discrimination.

History

Newburyport’s No Place for Hate® campaign was established in 2000, in response to acts of hate in our schools and in our community at large.  Community leaders and activists turned to the No Place for Hate® initiative to address these acts of hate and to promote proactive education programs.  Our community came together and continues to sponsor those activities necessary to receive No Place for Hate® certification.

In 2002, a small group of individuals incorporated as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization to form Friends for Peace to help raise funds needed to accomplish the good work of the City’s initiatives.

In 2005, the City of Newburyport created the Commission for Diversity and Tolerance.  The Commission is charged with working individually and collaboratively with the Mayor and community groups to celebrate the ever-changing tapestry of our City and to emphasize through educational outreach the danger of intolerance at every level.  Funds generated from the Wet Paint Auction are distributed through Friends for Peace and the Commission to address ongoing diversity issues in 2006-2007.