SANDPOINT — The Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run is set to return to Bonner County later this month. 

Once the relay team makes it to Sandpoint at about 3 p.m. on June 28, the international team will meet with residents and youth organizations for around an hour. The team will offer educational presentations, which officials said will focus on promoting self-esteem and humanity, and allow residents to have a chance to hold the peace torch. 

The global torch relay is currently making its way across the United States in honor of the country’s 250th anniversary. The peace torch is making its way westward, most recently stopping at the Grand Canyon in Arizona on May 29, making a stop in Seattle before it passes through Sandpoint as it heads to Helena, Mont.  

“In 2026, the Peace Run will be visiting all 50 states to celebrate the 250th anniversary of independence, highlighting the goodness of America,” Peace Run officials said. “Since its founding in 1987, the torch relay has traversed over 160 nations throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia as a symbol of humanity’s universal aspiration for a more peaceful world.” 

Created by Sir Chinmoy, the run has stopped in the Sandpoint region several times in its nearly 40-year history. Most recently, the peace run spent time in Sandpoint and Ponderay in 2024, where they were greeted by locals in the midst of another nationwide journey. 

For more information on how to get involved with the Peace Run, residents can visit peacerun.org. The relay team will leave Sandpoint heading east, eventually ending the lower 48 portion of the anniversary run in New York on Aug. 15 before stops in Hawaii and Alaska.