Our contest participants reflected, responded, and reached out with their expression of Mattie’s personal philosophy – “Remember to play after every storm!”
View the celebration of our contest honorees and Birthday messages for Mattie & Mama Peace on YouTube!
2021 Honorees:
Very Young Peacemaker
Finley Johnson
Katherine & Kenny LeJeune
Grace Swor
Harper Swor
Youth Peacemaker
Kaylene Garcia
Chase Johnson
Logan Johnson
Ojas Kulkarni
Jonah Toon
Peacemaker Group – Schools
Furlow Charter School – Georgia
Morningside Elementary School – California
St. Agnes School – Washington DC / Virginia
Peacemaker Group – Families
The Comeau family – Texas
The LeJeune family – Georgia
Teen Peacemaker
Sofia Galiastsatos
Rustin Highschool
Brooklyn Killcrease
Kendall Robinson
Desiree Romero
Adult Peacemaker
Cate Bailey
Rob Bailey
Nisha Batra
Allison Bond
Madison Hernandez Chandler
Maritri Garrett
John Goldsberry
Karen Kinnamon
Tina Marie Louk
Jan Mullins
Laura Tresca
Jennifer Willis
Entries chosen by our International Review Team for special recognition prizes:
Very Young Peacemaker
Katherine & Kenny LeJeune
Youth Peacemaker
Ojas Kulkarni
Peacemaker School
Morningside Elementary, Santa Clarita, CA
St. Agnes School, Arlington, MA
Furlow Charter School, Americus, GA
Peacemaker Family
The Comeau Family
Teen Peacemaker
Brooklyn Killcrease
Adult Peacemaker – Art
Cate Bailey
Adult Peacemaker – Music
Rob Bailey, Maritri Garrett (tied)
Adult Peacemaker – Dance
Karen Kinnamon
International Review Team:
Jim “JJ” Jackson – Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada
Recently retired Mississauga (Ontario) Fire Fighter
Mattie’s Foundation Ambassador & Volunteer
“Even 17 years after his passing, Mattie continues to inspire me, through memories of him, and through Jeni, to continue to try and make the world a happier and better place for all of us. To believe in peace and love, and to encourage everyone to also believe.”These Celebrating Heartsongs entries were fantastic, and a lot of fun, although the choices turned out to be much tougher than I thought. After much thought and several times going through each one and reviewing the entries, it became even tougher and tougher because each one is so unique and creative… Now I know why you passed it along to a review team – so you didn’t have to think. LOL! I don’t blame you.”
Khouloud Ayuti – Jaffa, Israel
2008 WAFF Global Teen Leader Alumni and everyday Mattie enthusiast
“Peace is an important part of our lives. We should always practice peace and aspire to find peace in everything we do. It was a great honor to see the amazing products submitted and how people perceive peace.“
Jann Carl – Washington, DC, USA
TV Producer/Host of “Small Town Big Deal” (formerly of ET)
Mom to Katherine & Matthew
Kinfolks to Jeni & Mattie and a believer in their peace mission
“Mattie’s Foundation and the work Jeni is doing is vital – we all know the opposite of peace. And whether it’s peace within our own selves, our family, our community, country, or world…it is that base to which all things can grow positively. ‘Playing After Every Storm’ means the ability to renew, to refresh to have hope again. With hope we can start that path to achieve the smallest or even the biggest of our dreams. With hope we are kinder, we are more gentle, we reach out, we want to help, we can make a difference. With hope we can strive towards more understanding and acceptance and ultimately peace. (Just writing this down has me feeling hopeful. 😊”
Kelly Ellison – Kansas City, Missouri, USA
CEO/Founder Your Adoption Finance Coach
Co-creator – Mattie’s Peace Room at The Children’s Peace Pavilion
(site of Mattie’s first peace speech in Independence, MO)
Friend and admirer of Mattie & Jeni and their peace mission
“Mattie’s vision for a peaceful world is relevant today more than ever! The work of Mattie’s Foundation is so very important to our entire society and it’s clear as a reviewer how many people his message continues to touch.”
