Walk with Gunnar Swanson as He Concludes "A Soldier's March For Peace"

A Soldier's March for Peace, Gunnar Swanson's 1,000-mile walk to raise funds and awareness for War Kids Relief programs, will conclude in Northfield on Thursday, September 10.

Swanson invites supporters to walk with him the final mile of his 1,000-mile journey, which began in Dallas on July 4 and has taken him through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota.

Well-wishers can meet up with Swanson on Thursday at 5 p.m. at the Northfield High School parking lot (1400 Division Street South) and walk with him from there to Bridge Square, where a celebration will be held.

On Saturday at 4:30 p.m., Swanson will speak at the site of the bank raid reenactment on Division Street between Fourth and Fifth streets. The VFW and American Legion Honor Guard will be holding the flags to honor Swanson as he makes a short speech and thanks all who supported A Soldier's March for Peace. The VFW will be presenting a donation at that time, and any other local businesses that wish to make a public donation are invited to do so then as well.

Swanson is a veteran of the Iraq war and program director of War Kids Relief, a program of the Dennison, Minn., based nonprofit Children's Culture Connection.

A Soldier's March for Peace supports projects that help children adversely affected by war and promote peace among countries in conflict. Throughout the 10-week journey, Swanson and War Kids Relief program coordinator Dina Fesler met with youth of all ages and collected nearly 2,500 letters of friendship written by American children to their peers in Iraq.

War Kids Relief is a nonprofit, nonpolitical, peace-building organization dedicated to enabling children traumatically affected by war to realize new possibilities for their lives. As an integral part of this mission, War Kids Relief provides opportunities for young people to play a leadership role in the pursuit of peace. Donations may be made at warkidsrelief.org/donate.