Tag Archives: Valentine’s Day

Sept. 9, 2009: Grannies for Peace Celebrates Grandparents’ Day

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For Immediate Release

Grannies for Peace will celebrate Grandparents’ Day on Wednesday, September 9, 2009, by helping children express what peace means to them through a “Pinwheels for Peace Project”, at the Emmaus United Methodist Church at 715 Morris Street in Albany. 

Grannies and the church program director Rifat Nazir will explain the project to the media at 4:15 PM.  Grannies will begin crafts and singing activities with the children at 4:30 PM, which the media are invited to observe.  

“It is so important for children to grow up thinking about how they can contribute to peace in the world,” says Granny for Peace Dahlia Herring, coordinator of the event. “ It is our greatest hope that all children, including our grandchildren, will live in a world in which conflicts are negotiated through diplomacy, human needs are met through development, and armies are put to rest forever”, explains Herring.

“Many of the children in the Emmaus after-school program have come to the US as refugees from war, so we are especially happy to learn what they see as the seeds of a peaceful world,” Herring says.

Grannies for Peace is a project of Women Against War. Grannies for Peace began in 2006 when Grannies tried to enlist at a local recruiting station to take the place of young people headed for Iraq. Grannies for Peace continues work to counter military recruitment of our young and also to secure improved health care for our vets. See www.WomenAgainstWar.org for more information.  

‘Grannies’ take stand against war

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Originally appeared in The Troy Record on Friday, February 15, 2008
By Tom Caprood, The Record

TroyRecord2-2008

Marcia Hopple of Poestenkill, Jane Streiff of Delmar and Kim Kennedy of Saratoga Springs protest. J.S. Carras — The Record

ALBANY — Several area women used Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to show how their hearts have been broken due to a lack of essential services for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Grannies for Peace” was the group that held signs and banners expressing their opposition to war to passing motorists in front of the Albany Veterans Administration Hospital on Holland Avenue.

“It’s troubling for us to hear that there are not enough services for all of the soldiers who return from war, especially for those who have psychological problems as a result of the kind of war this has turned out to be,” said Troy resident Sue Clark.

This was the third year the group came out on the holiday to protest disservice to veterans and, while all of the women do not have direct relatives in the armed services, they felt for wounded veterans as if they were part of their family.

“If they’re not our grandchildren, they are certainly someone else’s,” said Mabel Leon, a Schenectady resident.

The women were not protesting against the local hospital itself, but the national policies which they are forced to follow.

According to members of the group, the care currently being provided by the government is not enough for the long-term problems faced by both veterans and their families.

“Many of these returning soldiers have wounds that are not visible and cannot be healed in a short period of time,” said Leon, referring to psychological conditions such as post traumatic stress disorder.

Leon felt that the lack of care was so severe that it was a major cause for the alarming rates of suicides and homicides committed by veterans who return from battle.

The group called on the government to implement a new policy that would require all returning veterans to be tested for the presence of depleted uranium, a toxic chemical which can lead to severe long-term health problems if absorbed by the body.

Additionally, they also felt that women veterans should receive counseling for the specific traumas they have endured during their service, such as rape and various medical conditions.

“So many wonderful lives of young people have been ruined by these wars. We feel they should have a high priority in getting the services they need,” said Clark.