By Dan Sullivan
Catholic Herald

Drive promotes nonviolent toys, helps needy

SUPERIOR -- During the Christmas season for the past 18 years boxes have been placed in a number of businesses and churches throughout Superior and Duluth, Minn. to collect toys for needy children.

In these collection bins, however, you won't find the latest in toy machine guns or video games that promote bloodshed.

Jan Provost, who is a member of Cathedral of Christ the King Parish in Superior and belongs to the local chapter of Grandmothers for Peace, had been spearheading the toy drive each year. She said that with the war in Iraq it is more important than ever this holiday season to think about what is placed under the Christmas tree for children.

"Grandmothers for Peace think it's really important that we stress to parents to buy nonviolent toys this year," Provost said.

"The world and our society is so full of violence. Children don't need to think about those things. They are surrounded by it on TV and everything."

Dorothy Wolden, chair of this year's drive in the Superior area, agreed that people need to put thought into buying Christmas gifts for youngsters.

"One reason we hold the drive is to get people to think about the messages that their gifts convey," Wolden said.

"A really important aspect during Christmas is that it is a good time of year for people of faith to exam the values that they are celebrating. It is hoped that during this time of year people will reflect on the message 'Peace on earth.' We know where that comes from, it comes from the Bible."

In Superior, collection drop-offs include St. Anthony Parish and the cathedral.

Toys garnered will stay locally. "They will go to Christmas party at CASDA (Center Against Domestic Violence) and be given to children of clients there," Provost said. "Items left over will go for the Toys for Tots campaign in Superior."

Toys collected in Duluth will be distributed to Loaves and Fishes Catholic Worker Community and the Safe Haven Shelter for Battered Women.

Although against the violence of the war, Provost said she supports the troops in harms way. Provost said she has a nephew, Kevin Corcoran, of California, who is in Baghdad. She prayers for him on a daily basis.

"We e-mail every day," she said."I hope he gets home in one piece."

It was Corcoran's mother and Provost's sister, the late Barbara Wiedner, who started Grandmothers for Peace in 1982. The grass roots nonprofit organization was formed at the height of the Cold War, when organizers said they became aware of 150 nuclear weapons at Mather Air Force Base -- just 15 minutes from Sacramento, Calif. -- aimed at the Soviet Union. Similar weapons, the group learned about in the former Soviet Block, were aimed at the US.

Not only is Grandmothers for Peace against war, but it is against all hostility throughout the world.

"Violence is in families and society," Provost said.

"Children do not need to be playing with guns. There is no educational or fun value in that," she said.

Although the group is named Grandmothers for Peace, one doesn't have to be a grandmother to be a part of the group. Wolden said the group welcomed her with open arms. "I have been a member for about four years," she said.

"I think Grandmothers for Peace is a terrific local peace activism group. At first I thought I wouldn't fit in, but what they are really about is promoting the message of nonviolence. You don't have to be a grandma, but you just have to be for peace."

During a recent visit to a Superior retailer, Wolden and her daughter, Katie, found their drop box filled with a variety of toys including stuffed animals, a fire truck and a golf set, just waiting to get in the warm hands of a child. The Woldens said they were responsible for decorating a similar drop box placed at the YMCA in Superior.

"That's where we put our donations, but we also put some at the (Superior Public) Library, because we go there a lot," Wolden said.

In addition to the toy drive, Grandmothers for Peace was a part of a peace vigil in Duluth on Wednesday. The theme of this event was "no war toys." At the gathering people were dressed as toys and those in attendance held signs to encourage onlookers to buy peaceful toys for the drive.

"This year's drive is going well," Wolden said. "We had a real positive response. More people are talking about it and thinking about it."

Wolden said the best part of the collection is knowing who will be on the receiving end of the effort. "A lot of kids are going to get some great toys that will require imaginative and creative play," she said. "These are kids that may not be getting other gifts."

Editor's note: For more information about the toy drive or Grandmothers for Peace, call Provost at 715-394-7929 or Wolden at 715- 394-2534.

< Local Archives

© Superior Catholic Herald, 2003