Welcome to the Plowshare Peace Center website!

Plowshare Peace Center is a grassroots organization focused on working for

peace and justice for all beings. We serve Southwest Virginia and link with

groups in Virginia and across the nation. We began in 1973 as the

Ecumenical Peace Fellowship, thus making us the oldest peace group in

Virginia. Currently Plowshare has the following projects: a silent peace vigil;

programs and speakers; death penalty vigils; !Presente! and Virginia

Defender distribution; distant demonstrations carpooling; lobbying;

the Democracy Now show; and Truth-in-Recruiting.

We encourage people interested in working on these issues -and other

concerns that you might feel led to bring to us -to join us. Contact

information for the committees and coordinators who work on these

projects are below. Individual pages about these projects are to the left.

We also have an office; email list; newsletter; phone tree; and website.

Contact the Director for those projects; information is also below.

Latest Website Features:

Plowshare will be participating in the Witness Against Torture fast from

January 12 to 21. We are asking people to contact us if they are willing

to fast for one day during that period.  Witness Against Torture wants to

 call attention to President Obama's failed pledge to close Guantanamo

by January 22.  More information about Plowshare's participation in the

fast can be found on our Anti-torture Campaign page.  More information

on the Witness against Torture fast and vigil can be found at

www.witnesstorture.org.

Plowshare has working on getting the show "Democracy Now" to be

broadcast on WVTF-FM. Please check out the page dedicated to this

project. Pages for Peace Writings and the Virginia Peace Studies

program have also been added. Please check out our Plowshare

Calendar page, too. We are an action-oriented group and feature several

events and meetings on the page. 

Upcoming Events

**Wednesday, February 10 at 7 PM-Plowshare Steering Committee meeting,

the board that oversees Plowshare, gathers at the Plowshare office, 1719

Grandin Rd.  Visitors are welcome.

**Wednesday, February 10 at 8 PM-Democracy Now committee gathers for a

strategy session at the Plowshare office, 1719 Grandin Rd.

**Monday, February 15 at 8 AM-General Assembly hearing in Richmond about

expansion of the death penalty in Virginia.  Carpooling to attend hearing

available by contacting Herb Beskar at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

**Friday, February 19 from 4:30 to 5:30 PM-Democracy Now demonstration

at WVTF-FM, to encourage the station to carry the show "Democracy Now",

gathers behind the Red Lobster restuarant on Franklin Rd.

**Saturday, February 20 from noon to 1 PM-Silent peace vigil, in remembrance

of the dead and wounded of the Gaza, Iraq and Afghanistan-Pakistan wars,

gathers in front of the City Market building, Campbell and Market.

**Wednesday, February 24 at 6 PM-Plowshare newsletter mailing party

gathers at Plowshare office, 1719 Grandin Rd.  The Plowshare newsleter is a

main way for us to raise funds so can carry on our work so we encourage you

to support Plowshare by helping out.

Also: First Fridays of every month, 5-6 PM: Blacksburg peace vigil in

front of the Post Office on Main St.

Also: Second Saturdays of every month, 2-3 PM: Vigil Against Torture

at Johnson County Airport, near Smithfield, North Carolina.  Plowshare is

willing to coordinate carpools. Contact Herb Beskar at 989-6875 or

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it For more information generally go to

www.stoptorturenow.net.

Contributions & Pledges to Plowshare:

Plowshare is funded by contributions and pledges by the people of

Southwest Virginia. Occasional contributions are deeply appreciated

and may be sent to our office; address is Plowshare, PO Box 4367,

Roanoke VA 24015. If you would like to join our pledge list, please

contact Herb Beskar; he can be reached at 540-989-6875 or

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .  We are a 501(c)03 organization, and contributions

and pledges are tax-deductible.

As well, Plowshare has two special projects to which you may want to

contribute.  One is to place signs on the backs of city buses advertising

Plowshare (with our name, "Work for Peace" and our website on it). 

$325 will pay for one month.  The other is to place announcements on

WVTF-FM that the day's programming is being sponsored by Plowshare. 

$200 will pay for one day (five) announcements.  As many Plowshare

supporters already contribute to WVTF-FM, this is a good way to

redirect the contribution so as to to support Plowshare, too. You don't

have to pay the full amount for either way of outreach for Plowshare;

partial amounts will be sent in together.  You can mail checks,

earmarked "Bus Sign" or "WVTF-FM" and made out to Plowshare, to

Plowshare, PO Box 4367, Roanoke VA 24015.

As above, Plowshare is an action-oriented organization. We exist to

encourage peacemaking. So please check out the Upcoming Events

page to the left. You will find all our vigils, programs, speakers,

committee meetings, etc., as well as like-minded peace group events.

Plowshare loves to visit groups who would like to hear about our beliefs

and projects. Call or email the Director; contact information is below.

The board, also called the Steering Committee, is comprised of at least

12 elected members and usually meets on the first Thursday of each

month at 7 PM at the Plowshare office, 1719 Grandin Rd in Roanoke.

The president of the board is Manuel Dotson. If you would like to

contact the board, call or email the Director; contact information is below.

We are very interested in taking on new members. Service on the board

includes attendance at the monthly meeting and participation as a

coordinator or on a committee for one of our projects.

Plowshare takes on interns from high schools and colleges. It's an

excellent opportunity if you want to learn to be an activist as well as to work

for a non-profit. Contact the Director if you're interested; information is below.

Gary Sandman: 540-989-0393; Plowshare, PO Box 4367, Roanoke VA

24015-mail; 1719 Grandin Rd., Roanoke VA 24015-office,

Committee & Coordinator Contact Information:

Here are contacts for our projects:

!Presente! & Richmond Defender: Gary Sandman, 540-989-0393,

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Peace Vigils: Mike Bentley, 540-389-3752, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Programs: Gary Sandman, 540-989-0393,

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Death Penalty: Manuel Dotson, 540-344-3997; Gene Edmunds,

540-343-3100

Truth-in-Recruiting: Gary Sandman, 540-989-0393,

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Carpooling: Herb Beskar, 540-989-6875, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Lobbying: Mike Bentley: 540-389-3752, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Pledges: Herb Beskar, 540-989-6875, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Newsletter: Gary Sandman, 540-989-0393,

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Democracy Now: Mike Bentley, 540-389-3752, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Website: Gary Sandman, 540-989-0393, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Interns: Gary Sandman, 540-989-0393, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Phone tree: Gene Edmunds, 540-343-3100