2025-09-19 — Coral Springs, Florida, Hosts ‘International Day of Peace’ Celebration — Fo Guang Members from Miami Share Peace and Hope.

On September 19, the City of Coral Springs, Florida, held its “International Day of Peace” celebration at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts and the International Peace Garden. Fo Guang Shan Miami and the Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) Miami Chapter were invited to participate. Led by President Yenhua Deng, board members Yu-Ching Kuo, Xiufang Pu, Sumei Ma, and Anqi Zhang attended the event, embodying the Fo Guang spirit of supporting and practicing peace.

The “International Day of Peace,” established by the United Nations in 1981, aims to provide a day for all humanity to rise above differences and unite in the shared mission of safeguarding peace. Every September, events are held across the globe to inspire collective commitment toward peace and harmony.

This year’s Coral Springs celebration was jointly organized by the City Government, the Multicultural Advisory Committee, the New Dawn Community Church, Coral Springs Charter School, and Westchester Elementary School.

The ceremony began with Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen delivering a welcome address on behalf of the City Commission and presenting a commendation to the participants. Lydia Cutz, representing the Multicultural Advisory Committee, extended her gratitude to the BLIA Miami Chapter for its long-standing dedication to promoting cultural diversity and contributing to community harmony.

Throughout the ceremony, several community leaders spoke on the theme “Peace, Love, and Connection,” encouraging everyone to bridge divisions with peace and mutual respect amid a turbulent world. They emphasized that only by replacing conflict with understanding and dissolving hatred with love can society truly achieve harmony.

Students from local schools then took the stage to share messages of peace through music and poetry. Children performed the cheerful song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” reminding everyone to find joy and gratitude in life’s simple moments. Students from grades 11 and 12 followed with a guitar rendition of “What a Wonderful World,” a timeless song born during a period of unrest that expresses longing for unity and peace. Senior student Nyla recited “I See Peace Everywhere” by Riken Shrestha, a poem envisioning a world of fairness, safety, love, and kindness. The students’ heartfelt performances moved the audience and drew warm applause.

The event concluded with participants gathering at the International Peace Garden, receiving colorful peace pinwheels, engraved blessing stones, and handmade wish cards. The spinning pinwheels symbolized the continuation of peace; the stones silently conveyed everyone’s heartfelt hopes; and the wish cards, hung upon the “Peace Tree,” together formed a collective “Tree of Peace and Hope.”

President Yenhua Deng shared that Fo Guang Shan, following Venerable Master Hsing Yun’s Humanistic Buddhism, strives to resolve conflict with compassion, foster understanding through wisdom, and build harmony through good deeds. By joining this celebration, the BLIA Miami Chapter practiced the four main missions of Fo Guang Shan: to propagate the Dharma through culture, cultivate talents through education, benefit society through charity, and purify human minds through practice. The chapter also reaffirmed its commitment to working alongside the city to promote peace.

BLIA member Xiufang Pu, who is also a long-time teacher at the Coral Springs Chinese School, expressed her deep connection to the community. She and others shared hopes that this event would plant “seeds of peace” in people’s hearts, spreading love and understanding throughout society to help create a peaceful and joyful Pure Land on Earth.