By Tiffany McBride

For Hometown News

This Saturday at 2 p.m., demonstrators plan to march from 2205 Front Street Park to Melbourne City Hall to participate in a "March for Peace."

A variety of speakers and artists will discuss various platforms of reform in poverty, social justice and diplomacy.

A cookout will also be provided at the march's destination to assist any needy or hungry that apply.

The Melbourne and West Palm Beach chapters of the humanitarian group "Food Not Bombs" will provide the food.

Additional prepared or packaged food donations will be accepted that day, and are encouraged.

Jeff Nall and Bill Burton initiated the march. As the lead organizers of the groups, Patriots for Peace and Humanists for Peace, they hope to encourage people to gather for this mass demonstration to spread awareness for social justice and peace.

"I think those who attend will leave with an incredible empowerment that comes with realizing that we, as citizens, have the power to make our world better than it is," said Mr. Nall.

More than 50 national and local groups have endorsed the march, including Code PINK, UninsuredinAmerica.org, the Green Party of Florida, the Florida Socialist Party USA, multiple Florida chapters of Veterans for Peace, the Florida chapter of Military Families Speak Out and Brevard County's National Organization for Women. There is expected attendance from commuters throughout Florida.

Guest speakers will cover topics such as: military reduction to help favor domestic spending on health, education, infrastructure and jobs; shutting down U.S. foreign wars and military prisons; international diplomacy; and the occupation of Israel in Palestine.

"One of the main reasons we're organizing this march is that we think the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had it right when he said that 'A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.' We agree with (Mr.) King that what we really need is a war on poverty," said Mr. Nall.

Mr. Nall also helped organize a march to stop a potential war in Iran in August 2008. He had a turnout of around 500 people, and expects this Saturday's attendance to be higher due to the amount of organizations endorsing the event.

"I expect this to be the largest demonstration in Brevard in several years. I'm confident we'll have (more than) 500 turn out," said Mr. Nall.

When asked what he hopes to accomplish with this march, he responded, "We plan to pressure our elected officials, from city representatives on up to the Obama administration, to bring the troops home from Afghanistan and Iraq and to fund human needs, like jobs, housing and health care, instead of war and corporate greed. Beyond influencing politicians, we also believe that a demonstration like the Florida March for Peace has the power to transform the way that people look at the world, (and) can create a shift in peoples' consciousness."

For questions and more information please contact Mr. Nall at (321) 368-5093 or e-mail him at sabletide@yahoo.com. Questions may also be directed to Bill Burton at (321) 727-1083 or wburton444@aol.com.

For more information on Humanists for Peace, visit www.HumanistsforPeace.com.