Department of State and Roots of Peace to co-host “Harvest of Hope” In Recognition of Public-Private Partnerships for
Mine Action in Afghanistan
Mark Kimmitt, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, and Heidi Kuhn, Founder and President of
Roots of Peace, a California-based non-governmental organization dedicated to turning minefields into thriving
agricultural enterprises, are cosponsoring a dinner on Wednesday, December 3, in the Benjamin Franklin Room at the
Department of State, to recognize public-private partnerships with U.S. Government agencies, the private sector,
individuals, and the people of Afghanistan, who have worked diligently over the past several years to remove landmines
and explosive remnants of war and reclaim the Shomali Valley for vineyards and orchards.
“Harvest of Hope’s” Mistress of Ceremonies, Cheryl Jennings, San Francisco-ABC7 News Anchor, will introduce the
evening’s program at 7 p.m., with remarks by Assistant Secretary Kimmitt and musical performances by Dave Jenkins, lead
singer, Pablo Cruise Band, and Lorin Rowan, Rowan Brothers. The Roots of Peace Global Citizen Awards for 2008 will be
presented to Gillian Sorensen, Senior Advisor, United Nations Foundation, and Said Tayeb Jawad, Afghanistan’s Ambassador
to the United States. Noah Griffin, poet, will offer an interfaith blessing, followed by a gala dinner featuring fruits
that are grown in Afghanistan, once known as the “Garden of Central Asia.” Two more songs and a “Mines to Vines” toast
will be offered to close the evening’s events.
Since 1998, Roots of Peace has raised awareness of the landmine problem and millions of dollars to demine and replant
grapevines and other agricultural crops in Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, Croatia and Iraq. The Roots of Peace Penny
Campaign has engaged American children in collecting 25 million pennies for demining and construction of schools and
playing fields in Afghanistan.
Roots of Peace is one of over 60 organizations in the Public-Private Partnership for Mine Action in the Office of
Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, which manages
humanitarian mine action programs (clearance of landmines and explosive remnants of war, survivors assistance, mine risk
education), and conventional weapons destruction programs worldwide. To learn more visit www.state.gov/t/pm/wra.
ENDS