Peace Bus delegates pay it forward

London Community News

Photos by Mike Maloney/London Community News/Twitter: mdmaloneyphoto With the goal to educate and inspire young Canadians by promoting the idea of giving back to the community and ‘paying it forward,’ a group of 15 youth from towns and cities across Canada are making a five-week cross country journey on the Children’s International Summer Villages (CISV) Peace Bus. Starting their journey in Halifax, N.S. on July 26, the bus will stop in roughly 20 communities with the youth participating in community–oriented volunteer projects in those locales. On Sunday, the group including Cori Baldwin Paquette of London, was in the Forest City and spent time at the Regional HIV/AIDS Connection offices on King Street, learning about some of the work they do and helping to assemble harm reduction kits for intravenous drug users. To date, the group has worked on an organic farm and spoke with a diverse selection of people including a Holocaust survivor and First Nations elder. Before wrapping up the journey in Victoria, B.C., they will also visit Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta — a UNESCO World Heritage site — and spend time in various Mennonite communities. More information on CISV and the Peace Bus tour can be found by visiting www.cisv.ca. Find us on Facebook: London Community News