Wintry Whitt Smith ’97 Executive Director of Peace Village Global to Start Kids' Camp in Forest Grove

Wintry Whitt Smith ’97, executive director of Peace Village Global, is partnering with the Rotary Club of Forest Grove and the Forest Grove Daybreak Rotary Club to start a new kids camp expected to be held in August 2019. 

Peace Village Global is a nonprofit organization that empowers youth to spread peace by teaching practical skills for conflict resolution, empathy, collaborative leadership, and how to create inner peace and connect with the natural world. During the week-long camp, kids will participate in lessons that teach mindfulness, connection to nature, conflict resolution, and media literacy. Outside of that, they will participate in art and music, spend time outdoors, go on hikes, and take part in many other summer camp-like activities.

The idea behind the nonprofit came after Smith’s experience with a serious bullying incident. As a result, she and her classmate at Pacific worked to come up with an idea that could help prevent such events from happening in the future. Their work eventually became Peace Village Global, which now has 30 camps across the United States and recently held its first international camp in Kenya.