The programme originated through the actions of Belfast mum, Sarah Hughes. “She and her husband owned a grocery shop between the Shankill and the Falls in the early 1970s. Come summertime, she had two boys aged nine and 10, and couldn’t let them out onto the street because of the Troubles,” explains Leslie Busby, retired chairman of CPNI.
“She came up with the idea that she would write to the editors of 20 newspapers based in America, telling them the story that she couldn’t let her boys out. “She explained she was brought up outside Lurgan and her father would have given American troops milk and so on while they were based there before they went into the Second World War in Europe.” This was in 1972, the most violent year in Troubles’ history.
The letter was sent and picked up by The Fargo Forum in South Dakota. Communication started and Sarah’s nine-year-old son travelled to Fargo during the summer of 1973, staying on the 1,000-acre farm belonging to Ruth and Roy Lerud. “They were putting in various articles he was telling him,” explains Leslie.
“As a result of that, Bob Nickoloff, who was the president of Epping Rotary Club read this articles and said this couldn’t be happening in a friendly country like Ireland. “He said he’d make it his charity project for 1974 and take as many children as possible to the United States to get people to host them.” In 1974, 120 children travelled to the Midwest, staying in Minnesota, Dakota and Wisconsin wi.
