NJ Peace Action Honors West Caldwell Resident Maureen Prince

For more information contact: Madelyn Hoffman, Executive Director, New Jersey Peace Action 973-259-1126 or 973-876-1023

On Sunday, April 29th, New Jersey Peace Action will hold its 61st Annual Dinner titled “Nuclear War or Nuclear Ban? People of the World Know What They Want” featuring Ray Acheson and Alice Slater of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize recipient (see above).

NJPA will also honor West Caldwell resident, Maureen Prince and Clifton resident, Helga Moor as the Peace Action People of the Year for their work to avert war with North Korea. The Sylvia and Oscar Ackelsberg Peace Award will be presented to the Essex County chapter of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, for their on-going work for peace and their participation in the June 2017 International March to Ban the Bomb held in New York City.

A retired social studies/AP Economics educator, Maureen has been NJPA’s representative on the bi-weekly calls of the Korea Peace Network since November 2017. This experience inspired her to organize NJPA’s Korea PAC Subcommittee and to create NJPA’s “Truce Tuesdays” call-in campaign during the 2018 Olympic Truce. While attending NJPA’s annual organizers meeting in Washington, D.C., Maureen delivered petitions to and lobbied the staffs of both senators and five NJ congressmen.

Maureen first awoke to the truths of the nuclear age with the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident. She became involved with NJPA in the early 1990s, volunteering in the office while caring for her young daughter. She went back to teaching full-time but activism was forever infused in her life. Over the years, she has marched in numerous protests and parades, written petitions, solicited donations and signatures, attended press conferences, made phone calls and stuffed envelopes for various causes. Thirty years after first understanding the risks of nuclear holocaust, Maureen was grateful for the opportunity to fold peace cranes at NJPA with Shigeko Sasamori, one of the Hiroshima Maidens, and hear Ms. Sasamori speak.

"The world faces more threats to world peace today than it has for a long time," said Madelyn Hoffman, Executive Director of New Jersey Peace Action (NJPA). "Several of these threats, in particular North Korea and Syria, if not treated carefully and diplomatically, could result in nuclear war, the ultimate catastrophe. This latest illegal action by the U.S. in Syria threatens to widen the scope of yet another war."

With this as a backdrop, New Jersey Peace Action presents its 61st Annual Dinner featuring the September 2017 Nobel Peace Prize recipients, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). Ms. Ray Acheson of Reaching Critical Will and ICAN will speak to the question of "Nuclear War or Nuclear Ban?: People of the World Know What They Want." The event will be held at the Hasbrouck Heights Hilton, 650 Terrace Avenue, Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey. Reservations are required.

Ms. Alice Slater, of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, a member of ICAN, and one of the people who helped negotiate the International Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons in July 2017, will speak about the on-going and pressing need for a total ban on nuclear weapons. "The world needs full nuclear disarmament and to ban the bomb just as the world has banned chemical and biological weapons. The nuclear weapons states need to be a part of the process to show and to act on good faith, but for the moment, the majority of the world is telling those states that nuclear weapons must be banned."

"Whether it's threats of fire and fury or false alarms in Hawaii, today's events show us once again that we need to eliminate nuclear weapons," said Ray Acheson, "The majority of the world has rejected nuclear weapons, with 122 countries supporting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons negotiated at the United Nations last year. Those few remaining governments that put profits and power above people must be held to account."

As an aside, New Jersey Peace Action will be saying goodbye to Executive Director Madelyn Hoffman, who will be retiring from that position after almost 18 years. This will be her last Annual Dinner as Executive Director.

Music will be provided by Sharleen Leahey and the Cactus Flowers.

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