24-hour fast for peace and food justice begins Friday night in Dayton

Event will also include announcement about Miami Valley Peace Maker Prize and a performance from the World House Choir.
Tony Hall, retired U.S. Congressman and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture. He is the founder of the Hall Hunger Initiative. LYNN HULSEY/Staff

Tony Hall, retired U.S. Congressman and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture. He is the founder of the Hall Hunger Initiative. LYNN HULSEY/Staff

Ambassador Tony Hall, founder of the Hall Hunger Initiative, is inviting the community to join him for a 24-hour fast for peace and food justice starting at 5 p.m. Friday, April 4 at the International Peace Museum, 10 N. Ludlow St., Dayton.

There will be an event with light refreshments to end the fast at the museum at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, April 5.

The fast and events are hosted by the Hall Hunger Initiative and the International Peace Museum as part of the museum’s Season For NonViolence.

Friday’s program will begin with a talk from Hall covering his work with Ukraine, ending blood diamonds and his own 22-day fast. There will also be an announcement about the Miami Valley Peace Maker Prize and a performance from the World House Choir.

Saturday’s events include sharing food, reflections on peace plus performances from University of Dayton Jazz Ensemble and Olohana’s Polynesian Dance Troupe. Both events are free and open to the public.

“This is a fast for peace and food justice,” Hall said in a press statement. “People need help. We need to remind everyone that there are people who have to decide, ‘Am I going to eat, or am I going to buy my medicine?‘”

Organizers also stressed the importance of food access as a basic human right.

“True peace cannot be achieved without justice, and food justice is a fundamental part of that equation,” said Alice Young-Basora, executive director of the Dayton International Peace Museum, in a press statement. “Access to healthy, nutritious food is a basic human right, and when we fight — and speak out — for equitable distribution, we are fighting for a more peaceful world where every person can thrive. When we lift one, we lift all. Only together is peace possible.”

For more information, visit hallhungerinitiative.org.

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Credit: CONTRIBUTED

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