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Ben & Jerry's Recognizes Aaron Voldman, Executive Director of Student Peace Alliance, as a Peace Pioneer
Ben & Jerry's, the Vermont-based socially conscious ice-cream maker, announced that Aaron Voldman, Executive Director of the Student Peace Alliance (SPA) and a member of the Board of Directors of The Peace Alliance, is one of two nationwide winners of its "Peace Pioneer" contest. The announcement was made on May 27, 2008 at its New York City Times Square Scoop Shop.
Aaron Voldman, Executive Director of SPA, speaking at the Peace Alliance DC Conference in February 2007
The ceremony was part of Ben & Jerry's joint effort with The Lennon Estate and Peace One Day, a nonprofit global peace organization, to encourage people to work for peace every day.
Award-winning actress Maggie Gyllenhaal and Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's, presented Aaron and fellow Peace Pioneer, Robert Kent of the Peace Camp Initiative -a program that provides summer camp experiences for war-torn children from Israel and Palestine-with donations of $10,000 each for their respective organizations.
Aaron, a 21-year-old Brandeis University student, was chosen to represent the next generation of peace pioneers for his work in co-founding and directing The Student Peace Alliance. Since its founding in March 2006, SPA has quickly grown to include 100 chapters on high school and college campuses around the country.
"We're so proud that an organization such as Ben & Jerry's is recognizing the leadership in Aaron that we get to enjoy every day," said Wendy Greene, Managing Director of The Peace Alliance, the nonprofit organization leading the growing national nonpartisan grassroots movement for a Department of Peace and SPA's partner organization. "He reminds us that world peace is everybody's job, and each one of us can work to educate ourselves, our communities, and our members of Congress about the power of nonviolent conflict resolution and the importance of making the reduction and prevention of violence a national-and global-priority."
"Our generation must begin to build a culture that supports not only a peaceful tomorrow, but a peaceful today," said Julia Simon-Mishel, SPA Managing Director. "We are so grateful to Ben & Jerry's, the Lennon Estate, and Peace One Day for recognizing Aaron's efforts to further the cause of peace and justice."
The May 27th event highlighted Ben & Jerry's John Lennon-inspired Imagine Whirled Peace ice cream and included a modern-day "Peace Bed-In" marking the 39th anniversary of the day John Lennon and Yoko Ono hosted a "Bed-in For Peace." Through that legendary event, Lennon and Ono used their celebrity-for-good to promote world harmony, and inspired a generation to think about peace during a critical time of war.
In accepting the award, Aaron said, "I certainly agree with John Lennon that we must imagine world peace, and the Student Peace Alliance is committed to making our visions of peace a reality. Violence -- in our streets, in our schools, and around the globe -- continues to challenge the health and well-being of this generation. For me, the most tragic aspect of violence is that most of it is unnecessary. We have the skills right now to effectively resolve conflict before it erupts into violence, and yet we continue to mostly respond after it occurs.
"We need to rethink that and move in a direction where we work proactively to reduce and prevent violence from happening in the first place," he continued. "By creating a cabinet-level U.S. Department of Peace, we as a country will make peacebuilding a national priority.
"Thousands of people across the country are excited about this smart, strategic, and sensible approach. We invite you to join us. Thank you Ben & Jerry's for helping us build this movement to make peace as American as ice cream and apple pie."
Aaron Voldman with the U.S. Delegation to the Global Alliance Summit for Ministries and Departments of Peace in Japan.
About Ben & Jerry's
Ben & Jerry's produces a wide variety of super-premium ice cream and ice cream novelties, using high-quality ingredients including milk and cream from family farmers who do not treat their cows with the synthetic hormone rBGH. The company states its position on rBGH on its labels. Ben and Jerry's products are distributed nationwide and in selected foreign countries in supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, franchise Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shops, restaurants and other venues. Ben & Jerry's, a Vermont corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of Unilever, operates its business on a three-part Mission Statement emphasizing product quality, economic reward and a commitment to the community. Contributions made via the employee led Ben & Jerry's Foundation in 2007 totaled approximately $1.7 million. Additionally, the company makes significant product donations to community groups and nonprofits both in Vermont and across the nation. The purpose of Ben & Jerry's philanthropy is to support the founding values of the company: economic and social justice, environmental restoration and peace through understanding, and to support our Vermont communities. For the full scoop on all Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop locations and fabulous flavors, visit www.benjerry.com.
About the Contest:
You can find more information on the Peace Pioneer Contest and the "Imagine Whirled Peace" project at Ben & Jerry's website http://www.benjerry.com/imagine. |
