Bart Dentino, founder of We R 3C Inc. — “Creating Caring Communities” — will be the featured speaker at the Pasta for Peace free spaghetti dinner at 6:30 p.m. March 19 at First Presbyterian Church, 300 East Main St., Batavia.

One aim of the Creating Caring Communities program is motivating people of all ages to “develop intrinsic motivation to treat others with kindness, compassion, and generosity,” said Dentino, who lives in Elba.

The We R 3C program is helpful for older people as well as school-age children. “As a matter of fact some of my favorite uses of the curriculum is with multi-generational groups,” he added. “Watching and listening to them share with each other and learn about each other is a joy.”

The We R 3C curriculum teaches skills associated with “pro-social” behaviors and their relationship to kindness, compassion, forgiveness and bullying, and sets people in motion to create caring communities, Dentino said. Established in 2011, the focus is now to begin making people aware of its existence, garner support in the educational community and get the program into the hands of as many people as possible.

Bob Purifico, the organization’s chief executive officer, helped to create and led, as CEO and director, two international, creative problem-solving programs for 30 years. “The two organizations were Odyssey of the Mind, which many schools in this area have participated in, and Destination Imagination,” Dentino said. “Each of these organizations reached into all 50 states and 40-plus countries world wide.”

The We R 3C program has been piloted for the past two years in a variety of schools and organizations.

“It is changing the relationships of the people who have participated in it for the positive and causing them to take what they’ve learned and apply it to the communities that they take part in on a daily basis,” Dentino said.

 “The three areas that we’ve determined are the initial groups that we’d like to reach out to are schools, faith-based groups and youth organizations,” Dentino said. “We have had interest from the business, home-school and special needs organizations and will expand into those areas in the future.”

We R 3C has also met with several people from the state Department of Corrections who expressed an interest in using the curriculum to help incarcerated offenders make a successful transition to living productively in the community at large, he said.

“We’ve had teachers say, upon completing sessions for their classrooms, that the methods and skills that it teaches have improved their relationships with their parents, spouses and children at home,” Dentino said. “It’s been called a ‘revolutionary’ approach to relationship and community building and it’s unique and effective approach to bullying behavior.”

Dentino said We R 3C is available for programs in Genesee County.

The Pasta for Peace program seeks to reduce violence and promote respect by increasing awareness throughout the community. While the March 19 dinner is free, a free-will offering is appreciated.

Pasta for Peace is sponsored by Pax Christi Genesee County (Paxchristiwny.com). Pax Christi is rooted in the Catholic Peace Movement, but operates locally on an interfaith basis. Questions regarding the Pax Christi or the Pasta for Peace Program may be directed to wprivett.paxchristi@gmail.com.

Free Spaghetti Dinner: Pasta for Peace

The second “Pasta for Peace” free spaghetti dinner, will be held on Thursday, Nov. 17, at 6:30 p.m., at the First Presbyterian Church, 300 East Main St., in Batavia.  Local author and peace advocate Jim Morasco will be the featured speaker.  90 people attended the first Pasta for Peace in September.

Morasco, who rode his bicycle 400 miles in June to raise $1,400 for local charities, will discuss his personal transformation, his observations about people who experience trauma, and how he has seen first-hand that “Either through circumstance and/or trauma they learned coping skills that reinforced violence as a way to get what they want.” 

He says that his own personal transformation was made possible by positive role models and an early sense that there was a higher power, which was clarified through Christian and Seneca experiences.  He says that he has “always had a thirst for knowledge – and both formal and informal education has given me a better understanding of the world than just what we are taught as children.”

Morasco has spent most of his career with people who do not know peace in their lives.  “When I look at our culture I see this theme of violence over and over again.”  However, he says that he knows in his heart that he must not only advocate peace but more importantly be an example to others as well.

Today, he says that his number one priority in life is social justice, “because I believe (injustice) is at the core of most of the world’s problems.”

As he says, “Call it Karma or whatever, but one day I was thinking about how the canal project must have looked like to the Native Americans. I would think it was a "scar" on Mother Earth.  Anyway, later on in the day I came across a Pow Wow that was being held and I ventured in.  I spent the afternoon talking with new found friends and being spiritually enriched by the singing and dancing that was occurring.  It gave me the opportunity to re-connect with people that have been such a big part of my journey.  It felt like a little bit of "home".

The event is sponsored by Pax Christi Genesee County.  Pax Christi is part of the International and National Catholic Peace Movement, but operates on an interfaith basis locally.  Pax Christi hopes that increased local understanding  will reduce violence.

Jim Morasco is also the Associate Pastor of First Baptist Church in Batavia and a counselor for the local alcohol and substance abuse agency, GCASA.

The spaghetti dinner is free.   Reservation calls to Joyce: 585-757-2218 or Trudy: 585-599-3302, will be much appreciated.   Free will donations will be accepted gratefully.