497-mile walk against war crosses finish line in St. Paul in time to greet GOP

Witness Against War, a seven-week, 497-mile walk to promote peace and nonviolence, crossed its finish line Saturday in St. Paul, in time to greet delegates to the Republican national convention.

A delegation from the national Veterans for Peace convention, taking place in nearby Bloomington, joined the core group of walkers for the last 2.7-mile segment of the trek, which began in Chicago in mid-July.

Members of Code Pink and the Sisters of St. Joseph greeted the walkers and hosted a celebration at St. Joseph Church to mark the end of the journey.

Voice for Creative Non-violence organized the walk, and the full route and reports from along the way can be found on its website.

Kathy Kelly (pictured in foreground), a two-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee who is co-coordinator of Voices, was to visit the Veterans for Peace convention later Saturday. The walkers plan to link up with VFP and others during the GOP convention to call for an end to the war and occupation of Iraq.

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A small thing to brighten vets' holidays

While we continue the long-term effort to end this senseless war, Veterans for Peace offers a small, inexpensive, and immediate thing we can do to brighten the holidays for veterans in VA hospitals around the country:

PHONE CARDS FOR VETERANS PROJECT

Thanks to Bush Administration cuts to the Veterans Administration (VA) budget in recent years, veterans recuperating at VA hospitals aren't even allowed long-distance time to call home to their families over the holidays. Will you chip in and help our nation's veterans be able to call their loved ones this holiday season?

CREDO Action (from Working Assets) and Veterans For Peace have teamed up again this year to repeat last year's successful delivery of phone cards to 148 VA hospitals around the country. Reports back from the VA hospitals were fantastic; to quote one volunteer who helped deliver the cards...

"The Vets were astounded. Two hours of phone time is like gold to them. Many a tear was shed. Thanks to you, the holidays will be happier for lonely veterans around the country."

We've used our relationship with Sprint to get a great long-distance rate on these cards -- 2.9 cents per minute. This means that your tax-deductible contribution of $10.50 will get two-hour phone cards into the hands of three deserving veterans this December. A contribution of $52.50 will get phone cards into the hands of fifteen veterans.

Show support for other veterans that need our help! Don't our nation's veterans deserve a chance to call their families this holiday season?

Click here to donate.

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