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Building on The International Peace Belt project, we have set out to improve the lives of our world’s children. Since Artists for World Peace’s inception, we have held an annual food and clothing drive to benefit families on the Rose Bud Reservation in South Dakota, collecting tens of thousands of items with the help of hundreds of volunteers. (Click here for photos and stories) On the local level, we have collected food for the Amazing Grace Food Pantry in Middletown, Connecticut at each of our events. At our “500 Shoes” art show and benefit, we collected 1,200 pairs of shoes that we distributed to children in Ecuador, Haiti, and across the United States.  The benefit also raised money to help build a school in Ecuador through Vijali Hamilton’s World Wheel Project.  On an international scale, we have undertaken “Children of Peace” to financially support children in need around the world; we currently sponsor children in the United Stat
es, Haiti, India, China, Ecuador, and Cambodia. (Click here) Proceeds from the sale of our “Voices for Peace” CD will enable us to sponsor additional children.  The CD features our recordings of people from around the worlds’ thoughts on peace, set to music by composer Robert Nasta, Artists for World Peace’s musical director.  Please check our website for the CD release date and for updates on the “Voices for Peace” project, a traveling studio dedicated to recording thoughts on peace internationally.

In February 2008, thirty artists came together for our first Hats for a Cause. After designing and creating 150 hats, we raffled them at Cold Stone Creamery, in Middletown, Connecticut. With the $4,000.00 we raised, Artists for World Peace built its first safe house for battered women in Cambodia.  I am happy to say the safe house is up and running and helps women and children on a daily basis.  Some of the money also went to our Children of Peace projects.

This February, 2009, we held our second annual Hats for a Cause at the Winter Carnivale in Chester, Connecticut. All donations went directly to buying  food and supplies for food banks and soup kitchens around Connecticut, as well as New Horizons Women’s Shelter in Middletown, Connecticut. Thanks to Price Rite in Cromwell, Connecticut our trucks were full and easy to load directly from the skids.

During the coming months, we look forward to updating our DVD of The International Peace Belt’s global travels, producing our CD, “Voices for Peace,” and hosting art events throughout the United States. As we continue to expand our peace projects, we are working with a widening circle of artists and peace keepers around the world. We are continually collecting new warm blankets, food, and winter clothes for families on the Rosebud Reservation and, we are busy planning our upcoming events. Artists for World Peace thanks all of its supporters and volunteers for making our vision possible. We hope you will stay tuned as we continue to grow.

In Peace,

Wendy Black-Nasta
Founder and Executive Director, Artists for World Peace, Inc.

To all of the hundreds of volunteers who once again stepped up in so many different ways to help this year’s Food Drive to the Rosebud Reservation be the huge success it once again was.

From First Church of Christ here in Middletown, CT. who lets us use their space for our drop off and boxing of donations, to the Duffy School in West Hartford who once again collected warm winter coats for us. I would like to especially thank Lou at Price Rite in Cromwell, Connecticut for ordering the food for us and having it ready, on skids, to pack into our truck. Your enthusiasm and generosity were overwhelming. Thank you for making it possible for us to buy so much of the food we needed!! I want to thank Jessica Grant for designing our first Artists for World Peace T shirt. The sale of the shirts went directly to this year’s food drive. There are too many people to thank individually for their financial donations, as well as their hours of hard work day after day. I want to say that without you, and the goodness of your hearts, our work would never be possible. On behalf of all of us at Artists for World Peace, THANK YOU, and we wish you all the best in your life’s journey this year.

In Peace,
Wendy