A group of roughly 200 community members, students and elected officials marched up Penn Street in downtown Reading Saturday morning in observance of National Youth Violence Prevention Week.
Berks for Peace lead to he walk, which began at Reading Area Community College and ended at City Park in front of the Peace Dove.
Berks for Peace was born of collective trauma. The Berks Youth Violence Prevention table was created in September 2021 with a heartfelt mission to protect all kids from violence, with work rooted in community-based solutions that value all races and ethnicities.
“Our goal is to provide our community with an avenue to heal while expressing ourselves culturally and artistically” said Edna Garcia-Dipini Chair of Berks for Peace.
“We want to spread the violence prevention social campaign throughout the city, the county, the state and worldwide. Together we can make a difference. Berks for Peace is organized by the Berks Youth Violence Prevention Roundtable and community stakeholders.”
Berks for Peace is joining others in the country to unite and lift up youth to make their schools and neighborhoods safe. National Youth Violence Prevention Week focuses on education, awareness, issue advocacy and other activities that rally communities and inspire social change for youth violence prevention.
“The idea is to go beyond raising awareness by creating community connections that transcend county lines, demographics, and culture. We hope to inspire people to engage in the arts and other programming as a creative outlet for healing” said Garcia-Dipini.
