How to Have Lunch

Fold a crane. Invite someone to lunch. Give them your crane. Ask your lunch partner to pass the crane along at a lunch they later arrange with someone else in the world. When the crane contains ten names, please mail it back to us at:
The Peace Crane Project
455 Por La Mar Circle
Santa Barbara CA 93103 USA

Select cranes will be delivered to the United Nations on Peace Day 2024. All cranes collected will be taken to the Peace Park in Hiroshima Japan on August 6, 2025.

Imagine if 1,000 participants give out ten cranes over lunch and each crane is exchanged ten times! We will reach 100,000 people. If each of these 100,000 recipients share ten cranes of their own, we have reached 1,000,000 people with a message of peace and a feeling of being connected all around the world. So, Let’s Have Lunch!

How to Proceed:
1. FOLD (Skip to step 2 if you were given a crane at lunch.)
Choose your paper. Make it unique to you. Select a lighter color so the writing on the crane will be visible. Thinner paper is easier to fold. But anything goes! Fold a paper crane. (Around 6” or 15cm square paper will work best.) Folding guides are HERE. If you would prefer to buy cranes to exchange, you can do so HERE, or look for other sources online. Include your name and location on your crane. Write small to leave room for others to sign your crane before they share it at their next lunch. Draw a star next to your name so we know you first launched the crane in flight.

2. INVITE
Invite someone to lunch. It can be an old friend, a new friend, a neighbor who doesn’t get out much, a family member you haven’t seen in a while, someone you admire, someone you find frustrating and would like to understand better, someone from a different group than you usually connect with, or anyone you choose! Explain the idea to your prospective lunch partner. Make sure they are willing to take the crane they receive from you, add their name to it, and pass it along to someone they invite to lunch. Think of questions you’d like to ask. Keep it positive. Do more listening than talking. What brings your lunch partner joy? What keeps them up at night? What is their greatest wish for the world?

3. FEAST
Choose a restaurant. Decide with your lunch partner about the bill before dining. Are you buying? Would you prefer to split? You may cook or pack a picnic! Or, skip eating and invite someone on a hike or walk instead. It’s up to you as long as you connect and spend time together.

4. GIVE
Offer your paper crane and a printout of these instructions to your lunch partner. (Download below.) If you received the crane and did not fold it yourself, be sure to add your name and location to the crane before giving it away. Write small to leave room for others to sign after future lunches.

5. SHARE
Post a photo of your event to social media. Be sure to tag #peacecraneproject! When you share, identify the first person to fold the crane you received. How many names are on the crane now? How far has it traveled? When 10 names are on the crane, return it to us at the address above.

6. REPEAT
If you received a crane at lunch, go back to step 2 and arrange another lunch! Sign the crane you received and add your location. Give the crane to your new lunch partner. If you gave a crane away and have no more to share, start again at step 1.