YMCA Calgary Awards 2006 Peace Medals

Eight individuals and groups, along with 21 nominees were recognized at the 15th annual YMCA Calgary Peace Medals award luncheon on November 24, 2006.

Peace Medals are awarded every year to Calgarians who commit their time and energy to advancing peace in their communities and around the world. The award luncheon takes place during YMCA World Peace Week, the third week of each November. This year, Peace Medals were presented to individuals, groups and youth groups in the Community and International categories, to a Humanitarian of the Year, and to Kristy Packwood in the YMCA Staff category.

As a veteran of the Iranian army and survivor of the Iran-Iraq war, Mahmood Jafari has a unique appreciation of the meaning and importance of peace. Since moving to Calgary in 1997, Mahmood has devoted his time to a number of volunteer projects, including fundraising through cross country wheelchair rides that have taken him from Calgary to as far away as Banff and Edmonton. Most recently, Mahmood has embarked on a project to unite Calgary's religious leaders and together spread a message of peace and unity.

YMCA Calgary Community Peace Initiatives - Group Award: Urban Youth Worx

Urban Youth Worx is an organization that unites communities by engaging youth and community partners to work together through an artistic process. Calgary communities facing issues such as graffiti or inter-generational conflict are often referred to Urban Youth Worx. The group facilitates the creation of a piece of public art, working with community youth and an artist. Urban Youth Worx projects help neighbours get to know one another, instil pride among community members and leave a lasting legacy of the work done together.

YMCA Calgary Community Peace Initiatives - Youth Group Award: People of Peace (St. John Fine Arts School)

People of Peace is a group of elementary school students that helps to solve playground conflict through peer mediation. After completing a training session, Grade 4, 5 and 6 students are on duty each recess, helping their peers find peaceful solutions to their problems. By sharing their conflict resolution skills, People of Peace members not only solve the problem at hand, but help teach their peers how to solve future arguments on their own.

YMCA Calgary International Peace Initiatives - Individual Award: Rosie Grady

Since age 15, Rosie Grady has shown a commitment to helping others. While still in her teens, Rosie made seven trips to Mexico to help build homes for the disadvantaged, and later made two trips to Romania to help care for orphaned children. Rosie is currently in Africa, where she has funded and helped construct three houses in Zambia, and is now in South Africa, working at a shelter for abused women and their children, as well as with violent offenders at a nearby prison.

YMCA Calgary International Peace Initiatives - Group Award: The Taubensee Family

Earlier this year, the Taubensee family embarked on a peace-making journey together. Dan and Catherine Taubensee, along with their children Jessica, 13, and Micayla, nine, seized an opportunity to take on volunteer work overseas. The family moved to South Africa and worked with a non-governmental organization that helps children orphaned by AIDS, and provides support to the surrounding communities. The family worked on many projects over their six-month stay, notably developing a self-sustaining community preschool that served as a pilot model for other planned developments.

YMCA Calgary International Peace Initiatives - Youth Award: Students 4 Change (George McDougall High School)

Students 4 Change is a group of students from George McDougall High School in Airdrie, Alberta. The student group works to raise awareness and make a difference through information campaigns, volunteer work and fundraising for many local, national and international causes. Students 4 Change believes that if youth are our future, then they need to understand the issues facing our world and know that they have the power to make change happen.

YMCA Calgary Staff Award: Kristy Packwood

Kristy Packwood is YMCA Calgary's Community Outreach Manager, but it's her volunteer work outside the YMCA that led to her Peace Medal. This past July, Kristy co-led a ten-day mission to Poland with Holy Trinity Anglican Church. Called Partners for Poland, the group offered support and assistance to a local church hosting a summer camp for youth. Kristy helped to organize the trip, taught English lessons and supported the camp youth and their leaders. The mission encouraged international understanding between the participants and their churches.

YMCA Calgary Humanitarian Award: Alice Killam

For many years, Alice Killam has worked to facilitate fair and free elections in young democracies around the world. From designing and managing election processes to training local staff to run their own elections in the future, Alice has been an advocate for freedom, hope, free speech and empowering individuals to have a voice through democracy. Closer to home, Alice is also involved with an Alberta immigrant settlement group, and often shares her stories and her message with classrooms and youth groups.