Kern Valley hosts Level IV Peace Day

June 14, 2024

Staff and incarcerated played corn hole during Peace Day at Kern Valley State Prison.

Kern Valley State Prison Facility C, a Level IV yard, recently hosted Peace Day while also raising $1,100 to help homeless military veterans.

All those incarcerated on the Facility came together to compete in sporting events and listen to music.

Facility C houses five sensitive needs yards and three non-designated programming facility buildings.

The Facility C has many incarcerated persons who want to program and take advantage of opportunities provided. As one incarcerated person stated,

“This can be challenging when a small percentage of the population creates all the incidents, and incidents impact our programming,” said one incarcerated person. “That is why an event like this is so important.”

Neil Stone, one of the incarcerated event organizers, has spent more than a decade on Facility C.

“Peace Day was more than just some symbolic moment in time. At its core, Peace Day represents exactly what CDCR strives to be: an environment of change, hope, redemption and promise.”

Stone said participants were excited to have staff interacting with them in the sporting events.

“It was awesome. They were shocked an associate warden was playing cornhole with them,” he said. “They felt human.”

Staff, incarcerated interaction while benefiting charity

Capt. Christopher McLemore said this was the first Peace Day since the pandemic. The event also benefited the California Veterans Assistance Foundation, with the incarcerated population raising over $1,100 for the organization.

“Also, this is the first I’ve participated in personally. It’s been exciting to see staff and incarcerated persons interacting on a personal level,” he said. “I hope the opportunity to contribute to a great cause and to enjoy (themselves) inspires our population to see better things are possible for them.”

Submitted by Lt. John Melvin, AA/PIO
Kern Valley State Prison