(Minghui.org) As one of the originating sites for Earth Day awareness, the city of Santa Barbara, California held this annual event on April 26 and 27, 2014. More than 37,000 people attended the festival. The Falun Gong booth was one of the most popular among over 200 vendors and organizations that participated in the event.

Often referred to as the “American Riviera,” Santa Barbara is well-known for its pleasant Mediterranean-type climate. However, a massive oil spill from an oil platform off its coast in early 1969 severely impacted the marine life in the area. This triggered widespread environmental concern from the public and eventually led to the first Earth Day event in 1970.

With a similar mindset of peace and harmony, Falun Gong practitioners have been attending this event for several years. At the entrance of Alameda Park, where the Earth Day event was held, many people were delighted to see Falun Gong practitioners again. Some took pictures of the beautiful exercises, learned about Falun Gong, or sat down to make folded paper lotus flowers which represent peace and purity.

Touched by the exercises that resonated serenity and gentleness, one festival visitor, who is a dancer and fashion designer, said to practitioners at the booth, “ I found the most peaceful energy here!”

Many festival visitors stopped at the booth to learn more about Falun Gong

Supporting the Righteous

Through reading the poster displays and hearing practitioner’s introduction, many people came to know about the brutal persecution in China and signed a petition to stop the persecution. One woman said, “I live in Ventura. Please give me a blank form. I will get it filled in and mail it to my representatives.”

Visitors at the Earth Day event signed a petition to stop the Chinese Communist Party's forced organ harvesting from persecuted Falun Gong practitioners

After a gentleman signed the petition in the morning, he returned with a friend in the afternoon. The friend signed the petition after learning about the Chinese Communist Party's forced organ harvesting from living practitioners. Upon hearing that Resolution H.RES.281, which opposes the persecution, especially the organ harvesting crimes, had not been passed, the man said firmly, “No, we cannot tolerate this brutality. We need to pay attention to it and let more people know [the facts].”

At the center of the park, an open-air office was set up for elected officials to meet local residents. These officials gladly accepted Falun Gong pamphlets and hand-made lotus flowers from practitioners. Some of them had previously seen the movie, Free China: The Courage to Believe, an award-winning documentary covering the persecution of Falun Gong in China.

Das Williams, a member of the California State Assembly, said he admired practitioners’ efforts to raise awareness about the persecution.

Changes in Chinese People

Some of the Chinese fair-goers were also interested in knowing more about Falun Gong and the persecution. When practitioners were setting up the booth, one elderly couple came over for a chat. They knew about the severe corruption in China and were upset to hear about the staged Tiananmen Square self-immolation incident. “It is absurd for this kind of thing to happen. Very disappointing!” they said.

Two young women who had just come from China to study in the U.S., asked a number of questions including, why is Falun Gong “against China” and why is it “involved in politics.” A practitioner smiled and explained to them, “China is different from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). We practitioners cherish traditional Chinese culture and are simply opposing the persecution by the CCP.”

She said that practitioners had no political agenda. “What we are doing is just telling people to stop following the CCP in doing bad deeds, so that they will have a better future when heaven punishes the CCP.”

One of the girls was from western China. She said that many people in her area had become victims of the CCP’s brutality. Both young women agreed to quit the two organizations affiliated with the CCP: the Communist Youth League and the Young Pioneers. They were also very thankful for the practitioners’ help.

After one person signed the petition to stop organ harvesting, he wrote, “After all, we are all members of a big family.”