Toll Bros. volunteers prepare Camp for Seeds
Toll Brothers Inc. is America’s leading luxury home builder and Bob Toll, Chairman and CEO, is a member of the Board of Directors. Over 80 people from throughout New England arrived at the Seeds of Peace Camp in Otisfield, Maine, on May 31 to lend a hand at painting, carpentry, expansion/ renovation and general repairs throughout the property. Seeds of Peace would like to give a tremendous thanks to Bob Toll, Jane Toll, and the Toll Brothers staff, including Tony Casapulla, for their hard work. They organized and recruited volunteers and created a wonderful atmosphere at camp, including great food and a fantastic raffle at the end of the day.
Upon completion, the camp officially opened for its 16th season, ready to welcome hundreds of young Americans, Egyptians, Indians, Israelis, Jordanians, Pakistanis and Palestinians for a summer of dialogue, communication and leadership training.
Seeds join Islamic Games ’08
The Islamic Games is a professional sports event within the Muslim community that develops an appreciation for sports and encourages participation from young people. In attendance were teachers, Imams, Muslim non-profit groups and other community leaders.
For Seeds of Peace, it was an opportunity to reach out to the local Muslim community. At the event, Jake Toll (YLC Member and Junior Board Member) spoke to the audience and encouraged them to stop by the Seeds of Peace booth for information and conversation. Sadeq Damrah, the Olympic swim team coach for Palestine, was also present on behalf of Seeds of Peace. Others SOP representatives such as Rami Qubain, Eitan Paul and Charles Poliacof were also present to distribute materials and promote awareness.
Seed to Seed: A friend in Gaza
This program pairs Seeds now living in Gaza with American Seeds from across the United States and allows them to communicate about current events and continue to practice dialogue and leadership skills. In addition to the one-on-one correspondence all participants can interact through a group list-serve. Already the group has started to brainstorm ways to share their experiences from the program with outside communities through Podcasts, presentations and video blogging. Thus far, 11 pairs of American and Palestinian Seeds have joined the program.
Graduate Seeds Association pools talent for peace
Returned to the Middle East and South Asia, many of our older graduates are completing their university studies and beginning careers in business, government and the professions. These young leaders are beginning to have influence in their societies and want to pool their talents to work for peace across borders and in their respective communities.
Approximately 50 of these older graduate Seeds from Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Palestine and the U.S. met in Aqaba in late April and decided that an organization within the larger Seeds of Peace created for and directed by older Seeds could potentially harness the skills and abilities of interested older Seeds and encourage more of them to join. This Association is taking shape and will soon name seven young representatives for older Seeds in the Middle East, South Asia and the U.S. Once the structure is in place, more and more of our older graduate Seeds will be able to reconnect with the organization and their counterparts, have a voice in the stewardship of Seeds of Peace, launching projects in business, community service, media and government—tasked with advancing peace and understanding in their respective communities and regions.
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