Feathers, glitter, the most beautiful suits, stylish dresses and lots of pearl necklaces. Last night Murphy’s Pub in Meppel was all about the Roaring Twenties. A grand theme party for charity, visitors could bid on donated items and thus contribute money to the Poor Kant van Meppel Foundation. And that was done generously: 6000 euros were raised.
A little confused. This is how Henk Rous describes his experience last night. Rous is treasurer of the Poor Kant van Meppel Foundation, which is committed to households with a low disposable income. An important part of the theme party was an auction. Entrepreneurs from Meppel and the surrounding area donated dozens of items for partygoers to bid on. Furniture, hotel stays, dinner vouchers, clothing and various outings were auctioned.
At Rous the bids flew around his ears. “Sometimes I really thought: wow, these people really have enough money,” he says with a modest smile. “There was a lot of bidding against each other. I had my hands closed with an amount of 1500 euros, that would have been fantastic. If it eventually rises to 6000, as treasurer of the foundation I will be taken aback.”
Co-organizer Annigje Udinga looks back on the evening with pride. “It was great,” she says firmly. “A great turnout of people who have all offered very generously. The amount raised exceeds all our expectations.”
727 families are affiliated with the local foundation. This month they will receive an envelope with fifty euros in vouchers for groceries. “People can buy anything they need with it. The amount raised on Friday night helps us to do things like this,” explains Rous. He says that the foundation is getting more and more registrations. Fifty families joined this year. “We are not shocked by that, we expected it with these prices for groceries and energy. More and more families are falling through the ice financially.”
Why did this charity evening have to be in the theme of the 1920s? “That was just a very crazy time,” said Udinga. “We call it the turbulent years, and you can also say that of the current time. We thought it was very appropriate.” The dress code was also adhered to faithfully. “I still had a box with attributes that I could hand out to people who didn’t come dressed up, but it remained almost closed! Everyone had really done their best and looked perfect. Even the old pocket watches were polished to a shine.”
And will there be a sequel to the charity party next year? “Everyone is talking about that today,” laughs Udinga. “But we came up with this because it’s a crisis now. Hopefully that will be over next year and we won’t have to help anyone anymore, but it tastes like more. So who knows..!”