Rotary Club donates Peace Poles

Members of the Fox Chapel Area Rotary with one of the Peace Poles. From left to right: Fox Chapel Area School District Superintendent and Rotary member Dr. Mary Catherine Reljac; Rotary President-Elect Dan Stern; Rotary Past President George Dull; Fox Chapel Area School Board and Rotary member Ron Frank; and Rotary President Lanny Seed.

The Rotary Club of Fox Chapel Area is donating “Peace Poles” to the Fox Chapel Area School District to display at its schools.

According to Rotary International, “Rotary Peace Poles are powerful catalysts for bringing communities together.” Each Peace Pole is a monument that displays the message, “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in the language of the country where it is placed. Additionally, each pole displays that same saying in three to seven additional languages. The message serves as an affirmation of peace, and its placement furthers Rotary’s goal of building a culture of peace throughout the world. The poles are intended to inspire unity among people of all cultures, ethnicities and backgrounds.

The idea to place the Peace Poles at the district’s schools came from Rotary Club of Fox Chapel Area Past President George Dull. Mr. Dull is also a retired Fox Chapel Area School District counselor.

“In order to help spread the Rotary’s mission of fostering peace, we thought it would be meaningful to include the students of the Fox Chapel Area School District in the Peace Pole project,” Mr. Dull says. “The students of today will be the stewards of peace in the years to come.”

“We are so grateful that the Rotary’s donation enables us to be included in this project,” says Dr. Mary Catherine Reljac, Fox Chapel Area School District’s superintendent and Rotary member. “There is no better place to share a message of peace than in our schools, where we want everyone to feel a sense of togetherness and belonging.”

Rotary International is a global network of more than 46,000 local clubs with 1.4 million neighbors, friends, leaders and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – in themselves, in communities and across the globe. There are currently more than 250,000 peace poles around the world.