Volunteer Appreciation Dinner

On Tuesday, LFFP's volunteers and administrative interns gathered for December's Appreciation Dinner. Before enjoying salad, spaghetti and smorgasbord of desserts, MJ led a check-in. She acknowledged the holiday season and wished all of our college-aged volunteers the best in completing their semester studies. She also led the group in a round of applause for our EMU intern, Becky, who wrapped up her LFFP service for academic credit last Friday. Becky offered her unique skills and talents in a variety of ways, contributing administratively to outreach events and communications and programmatically as a counselor at the Perry Peace Room and the Mt. Rainier Peace House. Three cheers for Becky!

Before digging in and after breaking bread, the volunteers put their helpful hands to work preparing our annual appeal. We are very excited to share our 2009 accomplishments with the LFFP community, and the team effort of folding, labeling, and sealing the appeal made the large mailing a light task for each who contributed. (This also means that our message will be getting to you as soon as possible, so keep an eye on your mailboxes!) A big thank you to everyone who helped out!

The highlight of the evening was our special guest, Josh Stieber. Josh is an Iraq vet who shared his story of conversion to conscientious objector with the Perry Peace Children last week. He returned to talk to the volunteers about his recent project travelling across the U.S., listening to people's thoughts about war, sharing with them alternatives, and spreading the contagion of love. The entire group explored several facets of Josh's mission and he patiently answered questions with a thought provoking perspective in a spirit of understanding and commitment to nonviolence. We are so appreciative of Josh for sharing his time and story and admire him for his important part for peace.

To hear Josh's story for yourself, check out his blog at http://www.contagiousloveexperiment.wordpress.com/