From Connie Furnival
You are invited to attend a concert honoring the life of Helen Foster Snow, Utah’s most famous humanitarian, industrial organizer, and journalist. Born in Cedar City in 1907, Helen was nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize for initiating the Gung Ho Movement in Asia, a program which provided financial aid for refugees to establish industrial cooperatives in the 1930’s.
This “work together” model improved the lives of thousands of people throughout China and India. The movement was endorsed by notables such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Prime Minister Nehru of India, where over 50,000 Gung Ho cooperatives were established. To honor her lifelong service, Helen was memorialized at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing upon her death in 1997.
Helen dedicated her life to building bridges of understanding between the East and West, a work which still continues today. This summer the Helen Foster Snow Foundation, a Utah-based 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, hosted a student exchange program called Camp Gung Ho in the city of Wuxi, China. Over 90 American and Chinese students spent two weeks learning, working, and living together as they practiced their language and cross-cultural communication skills.
Student campers met with U.S. diplomats and business leaders in China, spent time with Chinese social media celebrities, put on a talent show, and presented their ideas to promote cross-cultural exchange to the United States Embassy. The camp has been covered by major news organizations in Asia and the United States, highlighting how today’s generation has been inspired by Helen’s spirit of bridge-building.
“Mrs. Snow built a bridge of goodwill between the hearts of the Americans to the hearts of the Chinese people. Let her life stand as a reminder that what lies behind the very different political systems of the world are real people whose hearts and minds are not so far apart.”
– U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch
In celebration of the International Day of Peace, a concert featuring local students and musicians will be held Saturday, Septmeber 21, 2024 at 4:00 pm at the Thorley Recital Hall on SUU Campus. Donations are welcome! All proceeds go towards Camp Gung Ho. The event is supported by the Family Support Center of Southwestern Utah, Fiddlers Canyon Elementary School, Southern Utah University and local musicians. Helen’s 6,000 photographs and 64 books and manuscripts are currently housed at the Harold B. Lee Library at BYU, as well as the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.