Springfield Sister Cities promotes peace through mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation between the people of Springfield, Mo. and of its sister cities: Isesaki, Japan (since 1986) and Tlaquepaque, Mexico (since 2003).
We believe in the power of personal experiences and personal connections to facilitate a more peaceful world. This is why we create opportunities for Springfield citizens to engage with Japanese and Mexican culture and people. People gain an appreciation of foreign cultures through our travel opportunities, hosting opportunities, and community events (Kite and Piñata Festival, Japanese Fall Festival, Taste of Tlaquepaque).
These experiences help transform fear of the unknown into understanding and friendship. As people from different cultures learn to appreciate and celebrate their differences while building relationships, it lessens the chance of future conflicts. This doesn’t just change the life of the individual, but it benefits our community as a whole.
This Giving Tuesday, we are asking for your help so we can grow our organization and reach more people with our message. Your donation today will help us create more opportunities for cultural engagement in Springfield. It will help us provide more travel opportunities, and it will help us build our scholarship fund to make our trips more accessible to all demographics.
When you contribute to Springfield Sister Cities, you contribute to culture and diversity in Springfield and you advocate for the power of individuals to enact worldwide change. Please join us in our vision of “Peace Through People.”
“If we are going to take advantage of the assumption that all people want peace, then the problem is for people to get together and to leap governments–if necessary to evade governments–to work out not one method but thousands of methods by which people can gradually learn a little bit more of each other.” — President Eisenhower
