“Kim brings peace to the kids she works with by helping them reflect on their own ability to be peaceful, within themselves and with others. She encourages them to think and act both locally and globally.”
Click here to view Ms. Brown’s Nomination Speech of Kim for the Greater Tacoma Peace Prize
”Ebert-Colella is walking, working proof of what kindness can mean.”
Click here for the full article on Kim’s award
SPEECH OF
HON. ADAM SMITH
OF WASHINGTON
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FRIDAY, JULY 30, 2010
Mr. SMITH of Washington. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Kim Ebert-Colella for promoting peace and understanding in her local and global communities.
On the evening of May 22, Ms. Ebert-Colella received the 2010 Greater Tacoma Peace Prize at Pacific Lutheran University for her life long commitment toward peace and the wellbeing of others.
The Tacoma News Tribune has called Ms. Ebert-Colella a “walking, working proof of what kindness can mean.” Following the Catholic teachings of social justice, Ms. Ebert-Colella joined the Jesuit Volunteer Corps after graduating from the College of St. Benedict. Over the next few years, she served in the L’Arche communities working with developmentally disabled people. When she turned 30, Ms. Ebert-Colella decided to volunteer at the L’Arche home in Calcutta where she worked directly under Mother Teresa. After her return to the United States, she worked as a youth minister at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Gig Harbor, married Niko Colella, and had their son, Sam Colella, who attends Bryant Montessori School.
Ms. Ebert-Colella followed her son to Bryant Montessori where she is a volunteer adviser for the school’s Peace Committee, which encourages philanthropy and awareness of indigent areas of the world, and provides students a chance to work toward peace in their daily lives while they revitalize their local communities.
Under Ms. Ebert-Colella’s leadership, students from Bryant Montessori School choose an annual theme to implement projects dedicated to peace. For example, during the 2009-2010 school year, students decided to focus on water. Under Ebert-Colella’s oversight, students raised money to buy four rain barrels to collect water to use on the school’s garden. They also have a goal of raising $6,000 to give a clean water system to Las Maratos, a small town in Bolivia.
Ms. Ebert-Colella motivates students to complete philanthropic projects and fundraisers, which have since become known as peace projects. Through these peace projects, Ms. Ebert-Colella emphasizes the importance of working toward peace while living peacefully in one’s everyday life. The Peace Committee also instituted a kindness campaign at the Bryant Montessori School in which the students report and recognize other students for doing kind and selfless acts.
Ms. Ebert-Colella has led several other philanthropic projects such as designating the school as an international peace site and organizing a Disco for Peace dance, which raised over $9,000 to build a school in Pakistan.
The Greater Tacoma Peace Prize was created as a gift the from the Norwegian-American community to the people of the region in 2005 on the 100th year anniversary of Norway’s peaceful separation from Sweden. The prize is award to an individual, group, or organization each year to recognize, honor, and encourage peace building, education, and awareness in the Tacoma community and beyond. Ms. Ebert-Colella has made an impression on several people in the region by working for good and touching the lives of numerous families and individuals.
Madam Speaker, I ask that my colleagues in the House of Representatives please join me in congratulating Kim Ebert-Colella and her outstanding work to promote peaceful understandings throughout the Tacoma community and throughout the world.