About the Organization

Global Harmony Through Personal Excellence, Inc. is a non-profit organization in Washington, DC. Its mission is to support the expression and humanity of children. We host two annual events which bring together diverse groups of people to celebrate children and honor the human spirit. 

The organization has been a Point of Light and has received local and international press. This is a non-profit run by volunteers. 

Every spring (2008 being the only exception in more than 20 years) Global Harmony Through Personal Excellence sponsors its "Celebration of Youth" essay contest, which is open to all 4th through 9th grade DC public school students. The essay themes encourage students to examine their thoughts and feelings around their personal experiences. Students are asked to write about their lives in their own voices. Prominent media figures and authors are the judges, and people across the city gather to hear the finalists read their prize-winning essays. Winners and finalists are awarded money, a certificate and congratulatory letters from well known national and international people. 

The 21st essay contest will be held in the spring of 2009.

Every December, Global Harmony Through Personal Excellence hosts an annual holiday event. Low-income and homeless children and families affiliated with the Community of Hope sing Christmas carols and holiday songs to the elderly at the Washington Center for Aging Services, a nursing home in northeast DC. The children make holiday cards to give to the elderly as they sing. After that, the children and volunteers car pool to a private home in northwest Washington where they eat lunch, play games, hear stories, and open donated gifts. 

Global Harmony Through Personal Excellence is a 501(c)3 non-profit, so donations are tax deductible. We welcome the talent, skills and participation of volunteers throughout the year as well as holiday gifts for children.

Financial contributions are always appreciated, too. Checks can be made out to Global Harmony Through Personal Excellence, Inc. and mailed to 3925 Livingston Street, NW, Washington, DC 20015-2921.

Intern News

Global Harmony Through Personal Excellence is pleased to announce that Molly Sloss is our first intern from the DC public schools and our second intern ever.

Molly is the only student who entered the contest three years in a row and won a prize each time. She is currently a junior at the School Without Walls.

Here is an Molly's essay about why she wants to intern for us:

I want to be an intern because as I read over the Global Harmony Through Personal Excellence website, I couldn’t help but realize the great importance of this organization. With each pearl of wisdom that decorates the border of the screen, I am amazed at the power of words, the power of children’s words and the power of my words, as well. I think about how I felt when I won the essay contest my first time, when I realized that I was in fact a real, live writer. Reading the words of fourth graders, seventh graders, ninth graders, I realize that they must have felt the same emotions, too.

Global Harmony had the power to make me, a normal little seventh grader who too often blended right in with the rest of the world, feel appreciated. They taught me that my words matter, my thoughts matter, my person matters. I used to believe that thoughts and words were strictly personal, self-reflective ways to express. Now, I know that if you have the courage to share yourself with the world--with everyone, including yourself--you can truly see how much you matter. I have the power to touch and move other people, to bring a little bit of joy into someone else’s life, to make a small but significant difference. This is all thanks to Global Harmony and how much my experience with them has taught me.

What most attracts me to being involved with Global Harmony is how much I can change myself and become a better person by helping others to realize their importance in the world. If, by being involved with Global Harmony, I can make just one shy seventh grader realize their impact in our world, I know that I will be a better person. That may sound selfish, but it is the devotion of this organization to the appreciation of individuals that makes it so special. By helping others realize how very much they matter, we grow and begin to realize our invaluable worth, as well. I can’t imagine passing up an opportunity as great as this.

Volunteer with songbook at nursing home, 2005

Future Projects

 © Global Harmony Through Personal Excellence, Inc.