ask with tears in your eyes
“The Society consists of 8 ladies and two news reporters. Seated at a tea table, the Society debates how to address the public in order to ‘loosen [it] up’ for further donations, so crucial to the Orphanage of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, which the ladies have come together to support. It seems that all possible methods and approaches have been employed in order to influence the public at large and no new ideas are coming to anybody. —Ask your compatriots with tears in your eyes. Perhaps it will touch their hearts. After all, the children are in need. The children are hungry, said one of the ladies. A memb er of t he news st a f f shrugged his shoulders: —It won’t reach them. We’ve wept, we’ve pleaded and pleaded, we've used all of the pitiful words there are, we've said them.… We insisted that Russians are obligated to help the plight of indigent children. The public that reads the newspapers has been so desensitized to our appeals that no words can move them. —So what is it to be, — says another one of the ladies, — our situation is tragic. Just consider: the daily cost of coal alone amounts to 1,600 dollars. To prepare lunch, the coal alone costs more than the groceries. Where are we supposed to get that kind of money?... (New Time, Issue No. 1478, August, 20, 1944)
Carnival Ball for Charity Several times a year, the Ladies’ Committee would hold carnival balls to benefit the orphanage. Sometimes entry required the purchase of a ticket; other times admission was free, in which case donations were collected in a jar. Musicians, dancers and touring performers were invited (in those years, Shanghai was home to a great number of creative people, such as renowned poet and singer Alexander Vertinsky). The events always included a fair, a lottery and auctions.
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Ladies Committee, Shanghai. (From the Diocesan Archives) Valuable prizes were donated by the guests themselves. Preparations for the Orphanage’s 10th anniversary celebration were described by one of the Shanghai newspapers in an article titled, “Russian Ladies Prepare a Big Anniversary Celebration”: “On Thursday, at the apartment of A. A. Feodosieva, a number of ladies gathered, some of whom belong to a number of various ladies’ committees, and many of whom are typically closely involved with the planning of a number of charity events, balls and other entertainments organized in order to create or support one charitable fund or another…. Our colleague, who attended the meeting personally, was able to ascertain with his own eyes how deeply and fervidly each of the attending ladies felt and understood that great deprivation experienced by the young orphans, the orphans of this, our disordered age, and with what open souls each of them addressed head-on the necessity of contributing one’s efforts, one’s time and one’s material assets for the sake of these children. “The meeting was conducted in business-like tones and in a friendly atmosphere, in complete unanimity that all possible resources be utilized
in order to ensure that the planned ball, scheduled to take place at the Russian Social Meeting Hall on February 23, is not only a joyful and lively event, but that it is an interesting one as well. It has been agreed that it will exemplify true Russian spirit and be similar in style to a traditional Russian fair. “All the hostesses will be in Russian, Myalorussian, Belorussian and other national costumes. Guests, both ladies and gentlemen, will be invited to do the same—to attend the evening in Russian costume—although it will not be required. The topic of kiosks and refreshment tables was discussed and, judging by the ideas put forth by some of the ladies, the kiosks can be expected to be a somewhat grand affair in terms of the variety of … ‘fair goods’ that will be offered…. Many of the organizers have supported the Orphanage over the course of ten years, and Russian society will not demonstrate ingratitude by paying them inadequate attention, nor will it fail to underscore how much it values and cherishes such women, who toil for its own good.” (Unidentified publication of the Shanghai press, WAD archive.)
VOL. 2 (№2) 2014 SPIRITUAL SPRING