Making a difference, one bear at a time

By Pat Stinson
Sun contributor
“What you think on, grows.” That’s the firm belief of Empire resident Jan Sikorski, who meditated and slept on the question, “What is mine to do?” after watching the movie, “The Secret,” loaned to her by a friend.
In the movie, Mother Teresa’s statement, “Do NOT invite me to an antiwar rally. I will only go to a PEACE rally,” caused Sikorski to awaken the next morning with an idea for helping to bring peace to the planet. The image in her mind was of her mother’s little stuffed bear, purchased from the Women’s Resource Center (WRC) in Traverse City at a time in her life when her mother was experiencing multiple health challenges. Across the front of the bear’s t-shirt, in permanent marker, her mother had written the word “HUGS.”

With that in mind, Sikorski visited WRC and Goodwill and purchased lots of little bedraggled-looking, stuffed toy critters. She removed their tags, ribbons, hats and t-shirts, mended their rips and tears and gave them a vigorous, hot water bath. A pair of old blue jeans became patches, and the finishing touch was the word “PEACE” written in permanent marker across the denim fabric.
While recycling the stuffed animals, Sikorski remembered a toy-bear drive at her former church — the way the bears were overflowing the pews, so that church-goers had to sit with them on their laps during services or classes. She said she was convinced by later expressions of thanks from local nursing home residents and their families that the vibrations of love the bears had already received were felt by the seniors.
In the same way, Sikorski “knows” that the items she sells or donates, (see below for a complete list), share the same love with their new owners. Her recycling efforts have been extended to include old blankets, after a conversation with friend Mimi Wheeler (owner of Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate) about “all of the old, beautiful afghans that were so lovingly created and then later discarded by owners who outgrew them …” The blankets also include a peace patch, and all items are sold with a message she and Wheeler created: Gently and lovingly refreshed and embellished with PEACE.
“I remind buyers that the blankies were made with love by the people who created them,” she said. “That love is still available to wrap ourselves in, by just wrapping up in one of these blankets.”
The purchase of a PEACE baby blanket as a shower gift for an expectant mother was an exciting moment for her.
“I really think that is recycling at its finest,” she explained. “Helping a new child to recycle the blanket and love … it can just keep going on.”
County residents and visitors can find Sikorski with her PEACE bears, stuffed animals and blankets at the Empire Farmer’s market each Saturday morning during the summer. Young helpers, who sometimes “work for bears,” have added their artwork to patches, and one enterprising youngster suggested sewing PEACE POCKETS on the animals, to hold people’s peace wishes. Cost of bears ranges from $5 for small to $20 for super-sized critters. Baby blankets are $10, and regular-sized blankets are $20. Special orders are available on request.
Recycled PEACE items have also been sold or distributed at the Empire Township Hall Tidings Market, Harvest Festival at Grand Traverse Commons, Bay Bucks Holiday Market at Higher Grounds Coffee, Unity Church of Traverse City’s Youth Education Dept., Michigan Youth Initiative and Michigan State Police. Ten percent of all sales are donated to the Campaign to Establish a U.S. Department of Peace. For more information, visit www.thepeacealliance.org.