Salt of the Earth: This granny's make for walkin'

Salt shakers
April 2001

This granny's made for walkin'
It takes a village to fundraise for a child

This granny's made for walkin'
Doris Haddock is 91 years old. She wears big straw hats, enjoys long walks despite her arthritis, answers to the name "Granny D," and carries around a tube of processed meat. The meat displays a sign that reads, "The Hagel Bill—100% Baloney." Granny D is not your typical grandmother. She is a political activist on a mission.

For nearly two weeks, beginning March 19, Granny D walked around the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. She started by walking from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day, but upped the stakes to a 24-hour stroll, with "catnaps" along the way. She hoped to draw attention—and support—to the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill.

Campaign finance reform "is the most important subject in our country right now," Haddock said over a crackling cell phone on the seventh day of her walk. "A poor man has to sell his soul to run for office or become a multimillionaire. We've got to do something about campaign finance."

Two years ago Haddock decided she would.

After training for nine months by walking 10 miles a day through her Dublin, New Hampshire town, in January of 1999 she set off on a 3,200-mile journey from Pasadena, California to Washington. It took her 14 months, but Granny D walked the whole way, calling for reform at each town along her route. "I hoped to create a wave of interest," she said.

Campaign finance reform failed in Congress in 2000, but Haddock was back for another round this year. She backed the McCain-Feingold bill and opposed alternatives, like the Hagel bill, that would continue to allow "soft money" donations, or unrestricted, private contributions to political parties. In response to soft money supporters who argue limiting private campaign donations in effect prevents free speech, Haddock says, "Money is money. Speech is speech. They are different."

Other campaign finance reform supporters, school children, curious passersby, and even Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) joined Haddock during her walk. "I'm 91 years old," Haddock said. "They don't really let me out of sight!"

Granny D kept up her walk until March 29, when the McCain-Feingold bill was finally cleared for a vote in the Senate. Granny D said she hoped she wouldn't have to return, but if Congress didn't pass the legislation this time she'd be back again.

"I'll continue working as long as my health is up to it," she insisted.

The Senate was expected to vote on the bill April 2.—Anne Graber

More info:
Granny D's web site
Granny D : Walking Across America in My Ninetieth Year

It takes a village to fundraise for a child
Immigrant families reached out across generations and cultures when a little boy and his illness became a parish family issue in Boynton Beach, Florida. Residents at the town's Sterling Village retirement community heard that young Mario Matiz, the 8-year-old son of one of condo community's groundskeeper, Edgar Matiz, had been stricken with stomach cancer. The Matiz family, Colombian immigrants, were hard pressed paying for the boy's medical bills and the incidental traveling and lodging costs associated with his treatment.

That's when Michael Dermody, Joe Lynch, and Tom McGrath, three retirees who themselves had emigrated as young men from Ireland decided that they should do something to help this contemporary immigrant family out. They first organized their weekend card group and then fanned out appealing to parishes from Lantana to Boca Raton. "We went around to all the churches and we put up posters and had it printed in their bulletins," says McGrath, a Sterling Village resident and chairman of the fundraising committee.

"I think myself because it was a child, everybody wanted to help," says McGrath. Young Mario is currently out of the hospital and at home and doing quite well. "They say it's a miracle he's as well as he is," McGrath adds.

The Sunday bulletin campaign was capped off with a reception at the Sterling Village community hall that attracted more than 600 residents, neighbors, and Matiz family and friends. That fundraiser became an unusual and lively multicultural event for the mostly Irish- and German- born or descended retirees. In addition to several Irish bands, the event featured Colombian bands and traditional Colombian dancing. All the performers donated their time.

"It was a complete multiethnic thing," says McGrath. "That's the first time I saw a group of Colombian people dancing," he says, "except on television. . . . We loved it."

McGrath won't let on how much precisely was raised for the family, but allows the event was quite a success. Additional donations to the Matiz family can be sent:

c/o Tom McGrath or Pete Waldron
Sterling Village Office
500 South Federal
Boynton Beach, Florida 33435

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