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Dolls, teddy bears shipped to
Kosovo
By ARTHUR JONES
NCR Staff
On Aug. 22, the pastor of a tiny, rural Virginia parish celebrated
Mass in Kosovo. At other points in the area thousands of Kosovo children played
with new soccer balls, Barbie dolls, teddy bears, baseballs and other toys --
40,000 in all -- that his parish had helped provide and ship. As Fr. Joe
Metzger of St. Theresa Parish in Farmville, Va., tells it, the idea came about
during Holy Week when he saw TV reports of Kosovo refugee children
sitting in the dirt with nothing to do. He was home for Easter
dinner with my family, kicking a ball around with my nephews and
nieces.
He asked St. Theresas 300 parish families if theyd
support a toy drive. Soon local churches, synagogues, Boy Scout troops, civic
associations and a couple of toy companies were involved. Two hundred
beautiful wooden toys came from a toy company in Vermont, said Metzger.
A Chicago toy company sent 4,000 yo-yos.
It turned out the hardest part was getting the toys to Kosovo --
getting help from politicians or relief services -- with the exception of
Catholic Relief Services. You wouldnt believe the lies, the
evasions, Metzger said.
But Metzger, a former Congressional political operative in the
1980s who was ordained in 1991 (hes been St. Theresas pastor since
1995), understands persistence. Catholic Relief Services helped with shipping.
A U.S. charity took care of U.S. road transportation. In mid-August the toys
were shipped out of Norfolk, Va., to Greece, then trucked to Kosovo.
Metzger flew to Skopje, Macedonia, Aug. 20 with Louis Steve, a
parishioner. Traveling with them were Matt Lakin and Kasey Sutton, sophomores
at Hampden-Sydney College where Metzger earned his degree, and Scott Sartini of
a Roanoke, Va., parish that Metzger previously served.
The clincher, of course, is in what toys were not shipped. No
war-themed or war toys made the trip.
National Catholic Reporter, August 27,
1999
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