The Springfield Peace Center recently sponsored its 13th annual Sweetness of Peace event in Wittenberg's Joseph C. Shouvlin Center for Lifelong Learning. Local non-profit organizations in attendance included Families of Addiction, Springfield Soup Kitchen, Nightingale Montessori, Chasing Hope Adoptions and the Springfield Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Participants in the event sampled 10 different desserts provided by prominent local caterers, including Wittenberg's Parkhurst Dining, while enjoying music played by the Springfield Youth Symphony Orchestra. All proceeds will help sponsor children for the organization's own Peace Camp that occurs every June.

Wittenberg's involvement with the Peace Center and the Sweetness of Peace event extends for decades.

"Wittenberg has always had a presence in the Springfield Peace Center leadership," said Scott Dooley, professor of art at Wittenberg. "Michael and Shirley Wuchter were involved while Michael was the Wittenberg campus pastor, and Shirley was the executive director for years. Wittenberg faculty and spouses have served on the Board of Directors for more than 20 years. David Barry, associate professor of languages, has served for at least six years, and I have served since 2003. Emeritus faculty who served on the Board of Directors include Dr. James Huffman and Dr. Charles Chatfield."

Wittenberg also provides an apartment on campus for the Peace Center and is one of only three universities in Ohio that has a Peace Center associated with the campus. The other two are Bluffton University and Wilmington College.

"The Peace Center was created about 30 years ago," said Executive Director Christina Walters. "There used to be a large divide between the north and south parts of Springfield, and community leaders as well as Wittenberg professors worked together to end this divide, which is how the Peace Center was created."

The Springfield Peace Center is a small non-profit organization dedicated to educating children for peace and teaching alternatives to violence. They offer many different workshops for children and adults in schools, churches and even in the workplace. The leadership club, for example, teaches conflict management and leadership skills in an after-school club located at Metropolitan Housing, as well as other locations in Springfield. The annual Peace Camp, marking its 32nd year this June, is free to the first 225 children to register. At this seven-day summer camp, children ages 4-13 learn conflict resolution skills.

The Peace Center also offers 12 different workshops that are available to the public. Topics include diversity training, a bully-free schools program, empowering parents in a changing world program, as well as helping teens stop violence. There is even a way to create additional workshops for various groups.

The Springfield Peace Center is also a community service partner site, which means that current Wittenberg students can fulfill their community service requirement with the organization. Students participate in many different activities such as making instructional materials, which will be used in the classrooms, and attending two of the classes to get a look into what is being taught to the children. Students may volunteer at the annual Peace Camp and fulfill their community service requirement in just one week.

Questions about the event, or want to get more involved? Contact Christina Walters at christina@springfieldpeacecenter.com or call 937-327-3977 for more information.

-By Mallory Moss ’20, Office of University Communications