On June 29, more than 30 area youth visited Munson Center on their field-trip day as a part of their week-long Peace Camp programming. Peace Camp is a program that started more than 10 years ago by what is now known as Peace Village of Las Cruces. Its purpose is to welcome kids of all ages and backgrounds to come together and learn about non-violent conflict resolution and healthy communication through team-building, multicultural, and arts activities.
Traditionally, Peace Camp takes a field trip during its week to learn about and participate in service activities in the local community. During their trip to Munson Center, Peace campers started the day with meditation and then quickly jumped into service activities. They learned about the Munson Center Community Garden and helped to water the garden and turn the compost. They then made care package kits for homeless individuals to give to Community of Hope.
Finally, all the kids made special cards for our Munson Center seniors, which they were able to give to them during our daily meal at Munson. Everyone was very appreciative, and the Peace Camp participants were able to see the importance of service through the smiles of our seniors receiving their messages of happiness and hope!
The afternoon was spent with fun activities like making origami cranes, or participating in our nod to the Olympics, the “International Cooperative Games”, in which each group of kids participated as a team in cooperative games such as a Hula Hoop Toss and Water Pitcher Fill-up Relay.
Senior volunteers from the community also served as “Living Historians” and talked to camp participants about their memories growing up. Campers helped to create a biographical story of their living historian that they could take home with them.
Munson Center and City of Las Cruces Senior Programs are always on the lookout for intergenerational activities to connect local youth with seniors. Contact Volunteer Coordinator Ryan Steinmetz (528-3035 or rsteinmetz@las-cruces.org), with inquiries.
Information from city of Las Cruces