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A Night of Promise Celebrates Russian Culture
Two key elements of Russian culture – music and food – were highlighted at the third annual Night of Promise, “Borscht & Balalaikas,” held on Saturday, April 26 at Abt Electronics in Glenview. Co-sponsored by The Cradle Foundation and the Cradle Cares Humanitarian Aid Program, A Night of Promise raises funds to support children living in orphanages in Russia.
More than 160 guests gathered in Abt’s spacious atrium to sip on signature cocktails, bid on artwork created by children in Russian orphanages and listen to Russian music. Golosá, a Russian folk choir based at the University of Chicago, performed sacred and secular Russian folk songs a capella. Russian music and song ensemble Chicago Cossacks played traditional musical instruments including the domra, balalaika and bayan.
Nine of Chicagoland’s top chefs – all of whom donated their time and talent to our event – stationed themselves in the model kitchens ringing the atrium and prepared a delectable variety of dishes, including Russian favorites such as beef stroganoff, blini with caviar and borscht with pelmeni dumplings. At the end of the evening, each guest took home a goody bag that included a booklet of recipes and a description of Russian folk customs prepared by Cradle Cares committee member Janet McDonald.
Since the founding of Cradle Cares in 2004, the group has raised more than $70,000 in direct aid to orphanages for the purchase of day-to-day essentials such as cribs, medication, space heaters, fire escapes and updated plumbing. Last year, a grant from Cradle Cares enabled an orphanage in Nizhny Novgorod to acquire a van to transport the children safely to doctor and court visits.
Thanks to the generosity and hard work of everyone involved with our 2008 Night of Promise, the evening raised more than $17,000 for the Cradle Cares program. We are extremely grateful to Abt Electronics for donating such a wonderful space for this event, and for extending a discount to our guests who made purchases that night. We would also like to recognize event chair Matt Zagorski and the Night of Promise committee, as well as our volunteer chefs, whose commitment made the evening a success. To our generous sponsors and silent auction donors, we offer our sincere appreciation.
View photos from A Night of Promise 2008
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