Our Supporters

Peace X Peace is supported entirely by contributions from individuals, foundations, and companies that share our commitment to women as peacebuilders across cultures and boundaries. Our supporters include Patricia Smith Melton and William Melton, the Isabel Allende Foundation, and many other generous individuals and organizations in the United States and around the world. Although there is no charge to join Peace X Peace, we regularly invite our members to give back by becoming financial supporters. To see our funding mix and make your investment in peace, please go to Ways to Donate.

Below are profiles some of the faithful givers who keep the lights on, the computers humming, and the global connections flowing at Peace X Peace. Some give large amounts, like founder and Board Chair Patricia Smith Melton, our first and most constant, sustaining major donor. Some give smaller but extremely generous amounts, like Stuart Molloy and DC real estate professionals Gail Montplaisr and Mike Schaeffer and Claudine Chetrit. Some give faithfully every year, like Mares Hirchert in Michigan. Some give modest but essential monthly gifts, like Susan and Rich Mayfield. And some (including most of the above) not only give but ask others to give, often in creative ways. 

Our donors inspire us in many ways. Some have chosen to support Peace X Peace and raise awareness about a cause particularly close to their hearts. Recently one member donated "On behalf of Circles of women joining hands and hearts to reclaim the sanctity of the Earth, our Mother." Another gave "In honor of Children in the Kindergarten in Al Aqaba, West Bank, Palestine." Another, "In honor of my daughters, Sarah and Jennifer and Joann."

For more inspiration, we asked each of these featured supporters below: Why did you decide to give to Peace X Peace?

Patricia Smith Melton:

“I started Peace X Peace because it was needed.”

Our founder Patricia Smith Melton is a poet, playwright, and photographer with more than 30 years of experience in the arts. She is the editor and photographer of Sixty Years, Sixty Voices: Israeli and Palestinian Women, a book (and interactive website) profiling 30 Palestinian and 30 Israeli women. Released in fall 2008, this is the first book of its kind that conveys the experience and wisdom of Palestinian and Israeli women equally. It is published in English, Hebrew, and Arabic, and was featured on NPR's "Tell Me More" in November 2008. In the photo above she is shown with Rend Shakir, British-Iraqi tech entrepreneur.

Ms. Smith Melton was executive producer of the award-winning 2003 documentary PEACE BY PEACE, Women on the Frontlines, filmed in Afghanistan, Burundi, Bosnia, Argentina, and the U.S., highlighting the often invisible work of women in building the components of sustainable peace. She received the Rumi Forum's 2008 Peace Award and will be featured in Volume II of Dan Buttry's Interfaith Heroes.

I started Peace X Peace because it was needed. I stayed with it because I have a deep, deep faith in the power of individuals once they have a clear vision and they understand they have the power to change the way the world works. I can imagine how I would feel at the end of my life looking back if I hadn’t accomplished something worthwhile. There is immense joy in knowing you have brought some ease, some new potential, some inspiration and encouragement to other people—especially, in my case, to women, and through the women, to children.

The best part of it, through the ups and downs, has been the connections: the human contacts. I love meeting women all around the world, getting to know the people inside Peace X Peace and so many others. All the rest is just mechanics.

What’s your vision for the future?

I envision Peace X Peace as one of the primary venues in the global world for connection, dialogue, and education on peace action. I see citizens around the world recognizing that the future is in their own hands. Sometimes this may manifest as destruction, as terrorism, but I place my faith in the overwhelming majority who see connection, understanding, and mutual respect as primary to building health societies of diverse people.

We all know that the healthiest garden is a garden of many varieties. That’s also the most beautiful garden. If we can hold this image in our minds, we have a model for living in a beautiful, healthy, and harmonious world. It takes work, it takes commitment, it takes courage when you’re weary and when you’re afraid, but we have no choice.

To our faithful donors, I say thank you for being there for us, for your faith, for your courage to hold the vision—which is still being tested—of the power of women everywhere. I realize that it’s easier to give financial support to established, large organizations than to green and growing ones like Peace X Peace. One day, with your support, our Network and our community of global citizens will be as large as or larger than those of the long-established institutions.

I understand that when someone asks for your financial support, you want to know that your funds will be well used. I invite the members of our community who are not yet donors to find out more about us, to talk with Molly and Mary about Peace X Peace, so you understand how we respect and leverage what you give. In today’s world, we are all neighbors. Whether you give $5, $50, $500, or $5,000, you are building connections among the people of the world. You are giving hope and power to women who know how to bring peace.

Michael Schaeffer and Claudine Chetrit:

“Peace X Peace Is an International Neighborhood.”

Mike and Claudine, who have been business partners for close to 10 years, are among the DC area’s most successful home realtors, and were ranked in the top 1% internationally in 2004. They set aside 10% of their business profits for charity, half given close to home and half ranging widely.

Claudine has Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Psychology from The New School for Social Research. Mike has decades of brokerage experience and an insider’s knowledge of DC’s most dynamic neighborhoods. After years of consistent support, earlier in 2008 Mike and Claudine made a $25,000 challenge grant to Peace X Peace at an event honoring Mercy Chidi and Karambu Ringera of Kenya (pictured at left).

Why did you choose to support this organization out of so many?

M: It seemed to be the right organization at the right time, with what’s going on all around us. As billions pour into the war effort, we were trying to put our arms around the situation and knowing there had to be a better way.

C: Peace X Peace is an international neighborhood, and I really believe in neighborhoods. I think if we all did small, neighborly things we could change the world. Our recent national election demonstrates that we can do great things one small thing at a time. I have always felt that if I could help the people right next to me and they could help the ones next to them, the world would be good.

M: I think that’s especially true this year. People around the world feel they are vested with us in a way that has never happened before. If you drive around DC, you’ll see 1,000 memorials to war. We do not honor peace in the way we honor war. It’s the time for peace.

How does support for worthy nonprofits relate to your business mission?

M. It’s central. When people stop to fill the gas tank or buy lunch, they may not think about the social policies of that company, but they should. Money has a soul, like Lynne Twist says. In these hard times, the data shows that the best-performing banks are the ones that are vested and anchored in their neighborhoods. Our business standpoint is that the people who support us give us the resources to do good.

C. We made our contribution earlier this year as a challenge grant because we want to get other people thinking about ways to give back. People need to think about where they choose to spend their money, and businesses need to invest in their local and global neighborhoods. We’re especially excited about the micro-businesses, micro-enterprises that Peace X Peace members support.

What issues concern you the most?

M: It varies, but I was especially moved when I met individual women through Peace X Peace. I heard Naba talk about the devastation in Iraq, and Mercy and Karambu talking about people who are lacking so much. There’s such a disconnect between what they describe and our comfortable lives that you need to do something.

In Iraq, our government counts up the American lives as if all the others didn’t matter. That’s a huge injustice. If the truth were shown on TV, people would be able to connect with what war really is and they would think twice before engaging in it.

I’m hoping that with the economy contracting people may refocus on what’s important, get back to the basics of life: the things that really matter, like our global neighborhood.

Mares Hirchert:

“We have to keep on caring and connecting.”

Mares Hirchert’s unusual nickname came from the 1944 hit song “Mairsy Doats” (“Mares Eat Oats”). My father sang it to me too, so we would have shared an immediate bond even without her consistent support of Peace X Peace. Mares is proof of the cliché in the nonprofit world that volunteers donate and donors volunteer.

She first met Peace X Peace in 2004, when Patricia Smith Melton made a presentation at her alma mater, Marygrove, in Detroit, MI. She met Iraqi member Naba Al-Hamid and supported Sharon Simone’s Bridges to Baghdad project, which grew out of a Marygrove alumnae Circle. She is pictured here with Imam Achmat Salie.

Why do you support Peace X Peace, Mares?

The concept is wonderful, but for me it’s because of the personal connection: seeing Women on the Frontlines and then meeting Naba in the US. I have a sense of what it is to be a foreigner and be treated kindly. My husband and I lived in Germany for two years, and our daughter was born there. Our landlady was lovely and helped me make the transition. I think it’s important for all Americans to have personal connections with other countries.

Has giving always been a part of your life?

Yes, it was part of the culture I grew up in. My mom was one of seven siblings, and we were always depending on or sharing with each other. You called one uncle to fix the furnace and another one when the toilet needed fixing. It was always open house for the homeless. I got a degree in sociology and political science because I wanted to help, and my first professional job was with AFDC, the main federal program for low-income families and children at that time. I’ve never done social work since, but I drive people to the hospital and volunteer in lots of other ways.

I’ve been a member of Amnesty International since 1980 or so. Writing three letters a month was something I could do at home and fit around raising my children. Peace X Peace is like that too. It’s about talking and connection: the only true security human beings will ever have. The idea of peace and not using bombs to solve problems is where I’m at. Women don’t think of people as objects. Peace X Peace is giving women the tools to connect.

As women, we need to find these connections and have an ease and comfort in connecting, so we can engage the rest of the world in getting to peace by peaceful means. That’s where we have to support each other and start elevating that level of conversation and those personal connections. I sent our new President a message that he needs to convene and connect every force for peace.

Lately I've been working on the "I Care About Peace, I Care About Al Aqaba" campaign to save a village and its kindergarten from demolition in Area C of the West Bank.  I carry around Pinwheels for Peace and take pictures with others who want to show they care  about peace and these children, too. I'm also gathering thousands of signatures for Congress to ask for their support.

And like Patricia, I meet people on both sides of the Palestinian - Israeli relationship who are working for peace, like Bassam Aramin and Zohar Shapira, the co-founders of Combatants for Peace. We just have to keep on caring and connecting.

Darline Bell Zuccarelli:

“Anyone can do it!”

Darline Bell Zuccarelli is a mother; a dedicated friend, sister, and daughter; a human resources and finance professional; a certified firefighter; and a boxing coach. The JAB Boxing Academy, which she founded in 1992, started out teaching girls to experience their strength and has since incorporated young men as well. “Nothing makes me prouder, she says, “than to be in the mall doing my shopping and hear some teenager holler, ‘That’s my coach!’”

Strength is one of the themes that keep coming up when you talk with Darline. And when Darline set out to raise money for Peace X Peace, she put on a tea party, with the theme Healing the World: One Peace at a Time. She sent invitations requesting a small donation to a cross-section of her diverse family members, neighbors, and friends; set up tables in her sunny backyard on a Saturday in May; cooked up a beautiful buffet; and put out her prettiest teapots and dishes. Along with her friend and colleague Zainab Cheema, she presented a Peace X Peace video and told her guests about the organization. A few days later, she proudly mailed in a check for the proceeds and a list of new members of our global community.

Says Darline, “It was fun, and not too much work. Anyone can do it!”

Sue and Rich Mayfield:

"Giving is at the heart of our spiritual lives."

The Mayfields are among our faithful, sustaining monthly givers. They live in Summit County, Colorado and Costa Mesa, California. After a career in television and film production, Rich studied theology in Berkeley, California and was ordained into the ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. A newspaper columnist and retreat leader, he was pastor of Lord of the Mountains Lutheran Church in Dillon, Colorado for 23 years. Amazon reader reviewer John F. Stiles calls his latest book, Reconstructing Christianity, a must-read for all who “think, question, and reason.” Susan has been a literacy teacher for more than 30 years.

S: I believe that women are going to make the difference globally. Improving literacy is the place to start. The Peace X Peace mission of connecting women  is central to the goal of educating those who are on the fringe in our world. Now that I am retired I am seeking new ways to make that happen. One of the many benefits of Peace X Peace is the increase in literacy among those women fortunate enough to be involved in this fine organization.

R: We support Peace X Peace because at the very heart of our spiritual lives is the need to serve others…and to support those who are doing the same. Peace X Peace has aggressively sought to empower the powerless of this world in a way that inspires us into similar, if smaller, commitments. Commonalities between nations, cultures, religions…just plain folk…are what we want to emphasize not just by the lives that we live but the organizations we support.”

Dollar a Week for Peace program. And of course we welcome large gifts as well. Did you know that the recent bailout (the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008) allows people over age 70 1/2 to give from their IRAs with no tax penalties? You can learn more from Molly or joan@peacexpeace.org, or from your tax accountant.

There is a joy that comes from giving, and it’s joy anyone can experience all year round. Says Mike Schaeffer, “I went to Catholic school, where we learned early on to give to the missions and to solicit contributions. They used to tell us, “Give until it hurts.” And I say, Give until it feels good!”