Dream Under Snow, Peace Garden, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Published:  March 16, 2026

An Osborne Village church is appealing for help so it can finish its “dream under the snow.”

Crescent-Fort Rouge United Church, located at the corner of Wardlaw Avenue and Nassau Street, needs $10,000 to complete its community peace garden.

“It’s a place for everyone who needs some time to sit, be quiet and think about peace or find peace,” said Barb Masterman, lead organizer for the project.

“It’s something we especially need these days, during this time of war.”

In 2015, the congregation decided not to use the green space beside the church for revenue-earning commercial opportunities. Instead, they chose to keep it as a place for people in the densely populated neighbourhood to enjoy.

The church, which has an aging congregation of about 75 members, has applied for grants to help with landscaping of the garden. Those applications were unsuccessful.

“Our congregation is very small, and the church needs their donations to keep the church up and running,” said Masterman. “We would like the community to know about the Peace Pole and garden that is there for them, and hopefully entice them to donate to the final phase.”

The Peace Pole contains the message “May Peace Prevail On Earth” in 12 languages, including American Sign Language, Cree, English, French, Hebrew, Farsi, Mandarin, Michif, Swahili, Tagalog, Ukrainian and Urdu.

The Peace Pole — one of at least five in the city — was dedicated in 2023. Now the church wants to finish the garden with new flower beds, shrubs, and benches.

“We want it to be a place where people of all faiths, backgrounds and cultures can contemplate and celebrate our common desire for peace in the world,” Masterman said.