5K Run for Youth - October 9, 2005

To make the message of non-violence louder than that of violence, 16 cities in the USA, Canada and Mexico  joined hands to participate in the first annual “5K Run for Youth.” Organized almost entirely by youth volunteers of the Art of Living Foundation, the run was held to raise awareness about the growing issues of violence and stress particularly among youth and the urgent need to come together as One World Family in providing education that fosters human values such as non-violence, compassion and a sense of belonging.

“We had many students of all ages, all backgrounds, from villages, the street, to univeristy students wanting to help us in any way they could,” said Luis Diego Cob, Run Coordinator, Acapulco, Mexico.

“This has been such an inspiring event,” says Patti Montella, Director, Art of Living Youth Programs USA, “The commitment of our volunteers and local and national supporters, has shown as they have all worked incredibly hard to make this event an astounding success. People ran, walked, cheered and had a great time at the events and it was all for a great cause.” Montella also noted that this is the first of many events to come from the Art of Living youth volunteers.

The awareness created through the 5K Run of Youth has already sparked many conversations with local school boards, national foundations and other youth organizations. Participants of the Art of Living Youth Empowerment Seminar (YES!) course have experienced many benefits including improved interpersonal skills, more creativity, controlling negative emotions and more productivity in school.

The Art of Living Foundation vision is to provide their youth programs to every student in North America. They're off to an inspiring start with programs in Baltimore, Los Angeles, Austin, New York, Florida, Mexico City, Acapulco, Toronto, Montreal, and Washington D.C. Often an entire grade and the teachers enjoy the program.  

The Art of Living Foundation, a global non-profit educational and humanitarian organization, is one of the largest volunteer based non-governmental organization, working in special consultative status with the United Nations and is active in 152 countries. For over 25 years it has been committed to re-establishing a world where non-violence is the norm and all children have the opportunity for a stress-free and violence-free society; to realize a society where human values such as peace, love, compassion, enthusiasm for life, friendliness, sincerity, caring and service are nurtured.