June 12, 2011

Picture a world at peace. How would that look to you and what would that mean for our children and grandchildren? Peace in our families and neighborhoods... Peace in our towns and cities... Peace in our country, peace across our world. Peace within ourselves.

We cannot change the past, but we can change the future.

Pray-for-Peace Network, a Fairfield County (CT) based peace organization will begin its 2011 activities with its Third Annual Pray-For-Peace Walk on Sunday, June 12th. 

The purpose of the walk is to spread the message of Praying-For-Peace. The Third Annual Fairfield County Pray-For-Peace Walk walk will have four routes:

• Old Greenwich   starting at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at 1:00pm 
• Stamford             starting at St. Cecilia’s Church at              1:00pm
• New Canaan       starting at St. Aloysius Church at               1:00pm
• Norwalk              starting at Temple Sholom at                      2:00pm

All routes will terminate in Darien (at the intersection of the Post Road and Noroton Ave.).  

Detailed walking routes, maps and more info can be found on www.pfpnetwork.org

“People can help spread the message of Praying-For-Peace by joining us along the walk,” said Al Forte, founder of Pray for Peace. Mr. Forte will lead the Stamford route. 

“We believe that if everyone prayed for peace, there would be peace,” he said. 

This year’s calendar of events for Pray for Peace builds on:

• 2009 and 2010 Fairfield County Pray-For-Peace Walks, covered by Channel 12 News and more than half a dozen newspapers.

• Mr. Forte’s 2010 Boston to New York Pray-For-Peace Walk visiting Ground Zero. Both the Red Sox and Yankees invited Al to be on their fields for batting practice before the games.

• Mr. Forte’s 2008 New York City to Chicago Pray-For-Peace-Walk. At the time, Al was a 65-year-old grandfather and walked nearly 1,000 miles from Yankee Stadium in New York to Chicago in a heroic effort that began July 19 and ended on October 5 —79 days later. He went to both Ground Zero and  Shanksville, PA, where United Flight 93 crashed on September 11, 2011. He also visited every major league ball park along the way ( Yankees, Phillies. Pirates and Indians).

In August of this year, Al will walk from The Pentagon outside of Washington, DC, to Ground Zero, arriving on September 11, 2011 for the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Al is the father of three and grandfather of five. Read more at www.prayforpeacewalk.org

His walks, he said, through coverage on television and in more than two dozen newspapers,  articles, has gotten the word out to almost 10 million readers and viewers. Along the way he has handed out more than 6,000 Pray-For-Peace Cards calling on everyone to pray for peace.

“Our group’s sole purpose is to communicate the message that Praying-For-Peace”, Mr. Forte said.  

“There is reason we call these peace ‘walks’ and not ‘marches,’ ” Mr. Forte said. “There is nothing strident or confrontational about our work or message.”