Just minutes before snow began to fall Wednesday afternoon, two people in coats and gloves were handing out small bags of trail mix in front of the Community United Church of Christ, 805 S. Sixth St., Champaign.

The Rev. Mike Mulberry, the church’s pastor, and Pat Syoen, a church member and Urbana resident, started distributing trail mix about three years ago as a way to protest the war in Iraq.

“I think there should be different values put forward,” Mulberry said. “The wider world is full of violence and hate, but we offer different values of compassion and love.”

The bags of trail mix also offer “food for thought,” facts about the war that Mulberry researches and prints on a sticker each week.

“There has been a spike in abductions being carried out by U.S. and Iraqi forces in Diwaniyah, capital of Iraq’s Al-Qadisiyah province. Pray for peace in Iraq! Peace is the way,” last week’s sticker read.

Mulberry and Syoen said their war protest takes place Wednesdays at noon whenever students are on campus.

“We try to change with the seasons,” Syoen said. “(This) week is our last week for a while because we don’t have a lot of people go by us over winter break.”

Passing out the free trail mix bags takes longer in the winter because students are cold and want to keep their hands in their pockets, Mulberry said. He also said distributing the food and information takes longer in the summer, when the student population is down.

Some people declined the homemade, granola-based trail mix and kept walking, while others grabbed a pack and stopped to ask the reason for the free food.

Brian Mansfield, junior in ACES, looked at the facts on the trail mix package, but said his views about the war remain unchanged.

“It would take a lot to change my views,” Mansfield said. “I know that may sound hardheaded, but I’ve got friends over there, so I’m personally affected, and I understand why we’re there.”

Mulberry and Syoen handed out 30 trail mix packets in 35 minutes last week. The two protesters said they hope their efforts will make a small change in people’s attitudes by starting dialogue about the war.

“I’m not sure it will change people’s views, but it can get discussions going and get people to think,” Syoen said.

The influence of this war protest will be gradual, Mulberry said. But he believes he has already seen an adjustment in attitudes about the war on campus.

“We’re seeing a shift happen,” Mulberry said. “Some people would argue with us early on, but that doesn’t happen anymore. We get more people thanking us.”