Happy New Year!

Welcome 2013!

It’s hard to believe another year has gone by.

As we begin a new year, we like to reflect on the amazing opportunities and experiences we have had this past one. We have had two amazing Living Peace Series speakers: Her Majesty Queen Noor and Dr. Jane Goodall. We have celebrated One Day Without Shoes, our 2nd birthday, International Day of Peace, and the ongoing efforts of past Living Peace Projects. We have had amazing staff and volunteers come and go as they embark on new adventures. And we couldn’t have done it without our wonderful supporters making good happen!

We had such an amazing year in 2012 and are thrilled to see what 2013 will bring.

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out!

Living Peace Series Speaking Event with Queen Noor

What a whirlwind couple of weeks it’s been here at Center for Living Peace! We were so lucky to have Her Majesty come and spend time with us– we had so much fun! The weeks just flew by. We hope you’ve enjoyed seeing photos from the VIP fundraiser and the Living Peace Projects service day. We wanted to share some photos with you from the speaking event on May 2nd, 2012.

Here is a behind-the-scenes photo from the green room at UCI! UCI’s Chancellor Michael Drake, Her Majesty Queen Noor, CLP’s Kelly Thornton Smith and UCI’s 2011-2012 XIV Dalai Lama Scholar Armaan Ahmed Rowther gathered together before the speaking event for a few quick photos.

Isn’t the Queen stunning?! And check out her bracelet! It’s from our very own Live Peace store!

The speaking event was moderated by Armaan Ahmed Rowther. He is the current Dalai Lama scholar at UCI.The Queen spoke about how she feels education is fundamental to the process of interfaith, and how she believes reaching out to one another is an incredibly grand gesture of peace, that is sometimes over looked. She explained that instead of branding people of other faiths with the idea of “other,” we need to make them a part of us. So inspiring!

Before leaving the stage, Her Majesty gave Kelly a hug…

Such a great image. What an amazing event it was! If you missed the speaking event, you can watch it in it’s entirety here. An edited, and better quality version of the video will also be on our site in the next few days!

 

A giant, special shout out to our lovely photographers: Alex Abercrombie, Ashely Strong Photography and Jason Niedle. We also wanted to thank UCI, all the students, staff and faculty that came out to the speaking event, helped set eveerything up to make the event possible, Apples & Oranges for filming the speaking event and Orange County Films for streaming the event for us! We are so grateful to have such an amazing team of individuals helping us make peace real!

 

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out.

Living Peace Projects: Leap of Faith Day of Service

On Saturday, April 28th, Center for Living Peace hosted its fifth Living Peace Projects day! This time, we partnered with Leap of Faith at UCI, a student-led movement promoting interfaith engagement and community service based on a project from the 2011-2012 UCI Dalai Lama Scholar, Armaan Ahmed Rowther.

The day started off with CLP’s very own, Lauren Quijano, who was the Day of Service student chair welcoming the crowd.

Then UCI’s Vice Chancellor, Thomas Parham thanking the students for their commitment and passion to serve those in need.

Then Armaan said a quick hello and introduced the Queen!

Her Majesty took questions from the audience…

Then the students split up and took buses to Share Our Selves:

And the Islamic Center of Irvine for Uplift Charity…

Some students stayed at CLP to make sandwiches to be donated to the homeless through Vineyard Church in Anaheim.

As well as OC Catholic Worker, Isaiah House (no photography was allowed at this site due to the privacy of the individuals who live there).

All in all– it was a fantastic day!

You can also watch a video from the Living Peace Projects with Leap of Faith at UCI! Thank you to all who participated and made this event a huge success!

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out.

Living Peace Series Presents: Her Majesty Queen Noor

This past Wednesday, April 25th, we were proud to host a fundraising event with Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan to raise money for the King Hussein Foundation.

We were so lucky to have this amazing cellist, Philip Sheegog, a 16-year old prodigy play for us.

Her Majesty Queen Noor with Honarary Chair, Christy Walton…

We were so incredibly honored to have Dr. and Mrs. Deepak Chopra attend the event!

Her Majesty with the Dalai Lama Scholar, Armaan Rowther, (who will be moderating the speaking event on May 2nd!) with CLP’s Kelly and UCI’s Vice Chancellor Thomas Parham…

Her Majesty with CLP’s awesome board of directors!

Peace warriors…

The Center for Living Peace staff had a blast at the event too…

Thank you so much to the incredible, hard work of: Upon Request, Ashley Strong Photography, Starrshine Productions, Nikki Thornton, Tethos, Coast Magazine, Pascal, Neiman Marcus Fashion Island, Lindblad, XO Jet, Magic Johnson Foundation, Jessica Grant handbags, Evita on Broadway, Magic Bird on Broadway, Aureole Restaurant, The Chatwal Hotel, Lululemon Athletica, Om My Soul & Kelly Lam, Ritual Cleanse & Marra Okola, Christie Frazier, Shelby Coffman and The Hood Kitchen Space, The Mars Group, Sup ATX paddleboards & WIng Lam Still Mind & Body, Virgin Unite, Christian Dior South Coast Plaza, B. Toffee, AK Johnston, Jim Nye, Paul Fenner Floral Design, Details paper design, Montage Laguna Beach, Miner Family Winery, Morrison Hair, Philip Sheegog and Christy Walton.We couldn’t have pulled off this event with out your support!

More posts to come about the Living Peace Projects and the speaking event!

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out.

Win Tickets to the Living Peace Series with Her Majesty Queen Noor!

Her Majesty Queen Noor and His Holiness the Dalai Lama

We are so thrilled for our upcoming Living Peace Series event with Queen Noor! As an outspoken advocate of global exchange and understanding, Queen Noor will speak on the importance of overcoming separateness and the idea of “other.”

The event on Wednesday May 2, 2012 at 7pm is the latest installment of our Living Peace Series in partnership with the University of California, Irvine.

Tickets are SOLD OUT, but here is your chance to win a set of 2 tickets to the May 2^nd event!

Ready? To enter the contest, tag us in posts you make on Facebook & Twitter about the Living Peace Series event. Help us spread the word that the event can be watched live online on our website and Facebook page! Tell your friends to watch the event online live and be entered to win! Plus by following or liking us, you can keep up-to-date with upcoming events!

Of the posts we are tagged in, we will choose one lucky winner to receive 2 premier tickets to the speaking event on Wednesday, May 2nd. The deadline to make posts is 11:59pm on Thursday, April 26^th. The winner will be chosen and notified on Friday, April 27^th. Good luck!

Good Happens.

Peace Grl Out.