An exciting well-deserved award and an example of the vital linkage of
social and environmental justice!
Bravo!
Jeanne Fudala
From the Human Services Coalition Listserv
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT:
Jeff Lydon, Executive Director
Community Dispute Resolution Center
Phone: 607.273.9347 ext. 206
Fax: 607.275.9225
Email: [email protected]
www.cdrc.org
CDRC Will Present 2010 Martin Luther King, Jr. Peacemaker Awards
at GIAC MLK Community Breakfast
Ithaca, New York, January 15, 2010 – The Community Dispute Resolution
Center (CDRC), in partnership with the Greater Ithaca Activities Center
(GIAC), has selected the winners of the 2010 Martin Luther King, Jr.
Peacemaker Awards.
Walter Hang, President of Toxics Targeting, is the winner of the
peacemaker award in the adult category. A long time community leader
advocating peacefully for the rights of all people to clean water, Mr.
Hang has galvanized the grassroots within Tompkins County for more than
a decade, bringing people of all backgrounds together to focus on
promoting social justice.
“Walter Hang’s recent work on gas drilling issues in Tompkins County
and neighboring communities typifies his commitment to working
non-violently for change by employing means that embrace transparency,
education, dialogue and persuasion rather than coercion,” said Jeff
Lydon, Executive Director of CDRC. “His work continues the great
traditions of Gandhi and King, so it is fitting that he receives the
Martin Luther King, Jr. Peacemaker Award.”
Quina Weber-Shirk, a student at the Lehman Alternative Community School
(LACS), is the winner of the peacemaker award in the youth category.
This marks the first year that a youth peacemaker award will be given.
Through her volunteer work with young children, Ms. Weber-Shirk has
long been devoted to promoting literacy. She’s also volunteered to
work with incarcerated teenagers at Louis Gossett, Jr. Residential
Center, and was an active, hard-working participant throughout a recent
cross-cultural exchange at the Akwesasne Reservation. Finally, Ms.
Weber-Shirk is training to gain certification as a teen mediator with
CDRC.
“When a young member of our community becomes a community leader, it
inspires all of us and provides an example of community building and
peacemaking,” said Travis Brooks, GIAC Program Administrator. “Quina
Weber-Shirk is so deserving of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Youth
Peacemaker Award because she’s served with such devotion as a real
leader in cultural exchange and selfless service.”
The annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Peacemaker Awards, celebrating the
life of Dr. King, are given to individuals or organizations who work
non-violently for change, who bring people together to resolve
differences and/or promote social justice, and whose work benefits the
Tompkins County community.
The awards will be formally presented at the annual MLK Community
Breakfast, sponsored by GIAC, on January 16th between 9:00 am and 11:30
am at the Beverly J. Martin Elementary School gymnasium.
ABOUT CDRC
The Community Dispute Resolution Center provides mediation and conflict
education services throughout Tompkins, Chemung and Schuyler Counties,
its purpose to cultivate constructive responses to conflict.
ABOUT GIAC
The Greater Ithaca Activities Center is a center for all ages,
particularly youth and teens. It serves the immediate neighborhood and
the greater Ithaca area by providing multicultural, educational and
recreational programs focused on social and individual development.
-END-
_______________________________________________
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