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OPINION

Group works with youths to bridge divisions

Saturday, February 6, 2010
(Updated 7:40 am)

Each year, the National Conference for Community and Justice of the Piedmont Triad (NCCJ) hosts Operation Understanding, a youth interfaith tour bringing together hundreds of young people to promote inclusion and respect.

The goal is for youth to develop appreciation and respect for different belief systems, building bridges of understanding among diverse faith groups. The tour, which is free and open to the public, provides an opportunity for Triad youth to visit houses of worship they might not otherwise experience.

The year’s Greensboro tour is from 2 to 5:30 p.m., Feb. 21, with stops including a mosque, synagogue and two Christian churches of different denominations.

The High Point tour, planned for last weekend, will be rescheduled because of the bad weather.

Slots are still available for both tours, but advance registration is required. For more information about the tour or NCCJ’s other programs, visit www.nccjtriad.org. To register, contact Brandi Johnson at bjohnson@nccjtriad.org or 272-0359.

* * *

“Help ™Haiti.”

And that, every bumper sticker aficionado knows, means “Help love Haiti.”

It’s also what Tony Pietrantozzi is promoting Valentine’s Day weekend, with half the sales Feb. 12 to 14 at Custom Jewelers Gallery on Battleground Avenue going to the American Red Cross.

“I thought I could tie in that day of love with the much-needed aid in Haiti,” said Pietrantozzi, president of the store. “I just think they need some help.”

It’s just one way local businesses are getting involved, as the American Red Cross is looking for ways to raise much-needed cash after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake left massive destructive and death in one of the world’s poorest countries.

Harris Teeter stores, for example, are selling $1 and $5 Haiti Earthquake Relief Cards. All proceeds go directly to the organization’s international response fund.

Want to help? The simple idea of texting Haiti to 90999 and contributing $10 via your next telephone bill has already raised millions through the charity.

To help out, go to www.redcross.org or take advantage of charitable efforts while shopping at your favorite stores.

* * *

Forgiveness, healing and respect for life are the focus of a free screening of the documentary “Love Lived on Death Row,” at Sedgefield Presbyterian Church.

The film tells the compelling story of the Syriani siblings’ journey from hate and anger to love, forgiveness and healing for their father, who was on death row for the 1990 murder of their mother in Charlotte.

The film also focuses on the conversations between Elias Syriani and his pen pal, Meg Eggleston of Greensboro, which helped the death-row inmate break down emotional walls. Eggleston, a member of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty, had begun writing Syriani, not knowing much about his crime but believing no one is beyond forgiveness.

The family’s reconciliation led to a public campaign for his clemency in 2005.

The showing is from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Feb. 25, at the church, 4216 Wayne Road, and includes discussion with Eggleston. Info: 299-4061 or www.lovelivedondeathrow.com.

Contact Nancy McLaughlin at 373-7049 or nancy.mclaughlin@news-record.com

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