COUNTYWIDE : Candlelight Vigil at University to Focus on Children

Ventura County will join more than 2,600 areas in more than 80 countries Sunday for a Children’s Candlelight Vigil to bring attention to the World Summit for Children.

World leaders are scheduled to meet at the summit in the United Nations Sept. 29 and 30 to discuss improving the condition of children in the 1990s.

“We’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this for years to send a message to world leaders that we want children to be the world’s No. 1 priority,” said Susan Liebling, who is organizing a vigil from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Kingsman Park on the California Lutheran University campus in Thousand Oaks.

Ventura will hold a vigil at Ventura State Beach Park at the corner of Pierpont Boulevard and San Pedro Street from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

Both vigils will feature entertainment, speakers, music and food. Candles will be supplied by the organizers.

“Over 40,000 children die each day from malnutrition and infection, both of which are very preventable,” Liebling said.

“This is a global movement,” said Kylie Langdon, a coordinator at the Candlelight Vigils organization headquarters in Washington D.C. Langdon said. South Korea had organized more than 900 vigils as of Friday and the United States is planning more than 600.