“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” — Joseph Campbell
Thursday evening I sat with heroes at the Picnic Fund Raiser for the organization, Peacemakers. The list of names is long that have given their hearts to work in various capacities on the “tree of life” photographed above.
This blog is celebrating the Gift of Education that Peacemakers provides in Rocky Mount, NC and the successful fund raising campaign.
At the heart of South Rocky Mount, Peacemakers is quietly building the foundation of hope. Their mission is simple but profound: to walk alongside families in under-resourced neighborhoods and give children the priceless gift of education in a safe, nurturing, God-centered environment.
Southside Academy is the anchor, offering a remarkable education rooted in both faith and excellence. But Peacemakers doesn’t stop there. Their programs stretch across the year, creating opportunities for children to grow, dream, and thrive:
There is Level Up Summer Enrichment, A six-week, full-time program that helps young scholars fall in love with reading, gain confidence, and discover joy in learning.
After School Program , serving neighborhood elementary students is a free program that provides tutoring, homework help, and a nourishing snack, giving children not just support, but a place where they belong.
K-Ready Allstars, A six-week boot camp for rising kindergarteners, easing the first big step into school and ensuring every child has a strong start.
Book Parties, Monthly celebrations where children gather for lunch, story time, fun activities, and the chance to select books to take home and keep, building in-home libraries.
The payoff is immeasurable. Each of these efforts is a seed planted in a young life, seeds of confidence, curiosity, and hope. In a neighborhood where challenges loom large, Peacemakers is creating a new story: one where children are not defined by circumstances, but by their God-given potential.
When a child has a safe place to learn, when reading becomes a joy instead of a struggle, when the very first step into kindergarten is taken with confidence, the future changes. Not just for that child, but for a family, a neighborhood, and ultimately for Rocky Mount itself.
Peacemakers is proving what is possible when a community believes in its children. And as those children learn, grow, and rise, they carry with them the promise that Rocky Mount’s tomorrow can shine brighter than its yesterday.
In the end, the heroes of this story are not only found at the head of the organization like Jesse Lewis, Executive Director, who brings steady leadership and vision.
The heroes are also found in every tender life shaped by this place. Children are held with love, guided toward purpose, taught to see themselves as peacemakers in a world that needs them.
They are surrounded daily by mentors and teachers who believe in them, pray for them, and love them no matter their circumstances.
This is what makes Peacemakers shine: a community where promise is lived out in classrooms, in summer reading circles, in after-school tutoring sessions, and in joyful book parties. It is in these quiet moments that the real work of transformation takes place.
Donate some money, check out the volunteer possibilities, and the Christmas Toy Store.
To learn more about volunteering at Peacemakers, please contact
Jesse Lewis
252.212.5044
jesse@rockymountpeacemakers.org
One day, as these children grow into the fullness of who God made them to be, we will look to these Peacemaker heroes with great thanksgiving.
Denise Watkins and I made two new friends at our table this year. They work at Peacemakers and are dear ladies.
Main Street Rocky Mount 