2019 Bellingham Peace Builder Awards Announced

The Whatcom Dispute Resolution Center (WDRC) in Bellingham invites the community to join in honoring eight remarkable individuals, projects, and organizations who have helped build peace in Whatcom County. Each of this year’s award winners represent unique and important efforts to build trust, promote healing, resolve conflicts, and contribute to a more peaceful community. The 2019 Peace Builder Award winners will be recognized at the 17th Annual Peace Builder Awards Gala, presented by Peoples Bank, on November 15th, at Bellingham Technical College’s Settlemyer Hall.

The recipients of the 2019 Peace Builder Awards are:

Collaboration Award: Whatcom Youth Pride Coalition For bringing the community together to support and celebrate LGBTQ+ youth.
Community Award: 2019 Paddle to Lummi Tribal Canoe Journey For promoting unity, honoring culture, and inspiring healing, generosity, and connection.
Environment Award: David Roberts and Kulshan Services For engaging the community in dialogue to reach clarity and consensus on challenging issues.
Healthcare Award: Marcela Suarez Diaz and the Sea Mar Promotores Program For creating connections and partnerships to support migrant farmworkers and their families.
Inspiration Award: Peace Wizard For spreading the message of peace wherever he goes.
Public Service Award: Incarceration Prevention & Reduction Task Force For strengthening our justice system through cooperation, innovation, and action.
Volunteer Award: Ann and Pug Edmonds For using creative problem solving and collaboration to meet community members’ basic needs.
Youth Award: The Upstanders United For creating a more inclusive, connected, and caring school environment.

At the Peace Builder Awards Gala, in addition to the awards ceremony, guests will enjoy dinner, a silent auction and dessert dash, live music, and poetry readings by the winners of the 2019 Youth Peace Poetry Contest. Tickets are $70 and may be purchased online at whatcomdrc.org or by calling 360.676.0122.

The WDRC is a nonprofit dedicated to providing and promoting constructive and collaborative approaches to conflict. More information can be found at www.whatcomdrc.org or by calling 360.676.0122

We acknowledge that Whatcom County is located on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish Peoples. They cared for the lands that included what we’d call the Puget Sound region, Vancouver Island and British Columbia since time immemorial. This gives us the great obligation and opportunity to learn how to care for our surrounding areas and all the natural and human resources we require to live. We express our deepest respect and gratitude for our indigenous neighbors, the Lummi Nation and Nooksack Tribe, for their enduring care and protection of our shared lands and waterways.