This year is the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The United Nations dedicates September 21st of every year to international peace, and the diversity within the Job Corps program is the perfect place to support this cause.
The Youth 2 Youth club at the Muhlenberg Job Corps Center joined other centers nationwide to host a week of events focusing on international peace, with the theme of “students standing together”.
“It is time all nations and all people live up to the words of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which recognizes the inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human race. This year marks the 70th anniversary of that landmark document.” — Secretary-General António Guterres.
To kick off “peace week”, the Y2Y ambassadors served “peace pancakes” in the cafeteria on the morning of Monday, September 17th, and then ended the day with guest speaker, Barry Duvall speaking with the students about the importance of peace within the community. Duvall covered topics such as the civil war, segregation, the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s, before touching on more contemporary topics such as cyber bullying and improper uses of social media.
“People are generally peaceful by nature.” said Duvall, before challenging the students to be aware of how they treat people and encouraging them to value one another.
The week continued with activities such as a day of “random acts of kindness”, where students got signatures for every kind gesture throughout the day competing for a prize for the most acts of kindness. One student demonstrated 72 acts of kindness alone. The Y2Y ambassadors’ act of kindness was to hand out free slushies at the end of the training day.
To show the community MJCC’s peaceful and service oriented spirit, Y2Y ambassadors and staff members provided a day of helping hands to the Hopkins County Food Bank. Students and staff members helped to sort and shelve food products, unload trucks, and serve needy families as they received assistance from this non-profit organization.
The week was wrapped up with a peace walk in downtown Greenville, KY where students and staff walked the city center handing out candy and bracelets with kind words to remind community members of the importance of peace, as the MJCC cheerleaders entertained the masses with a peace cheer.