Therese Melden and Judy Klein from Leading Ladies speak with Heather Atwood about an upcoming fundraiser to benefit Ukrainian refugees. Leading Ladies is a civic action group based on the North Shore of Massachusetts and focuses on issues that affect all families and communities.
Bella, An Immigrant’s Tale, a one woman play, will take place at the Cabot Theater on Wednesday, May 25 at 7:00 PM. Admission is by donation and all proceeds will be distributed to Red Cross Ukraine, the International Rescue Committee, and the World General Kitchen.
Reserve Tickets: theCabot.org
Heather Atwood:
Welcome back to another episode of Cape Ann Today. I am speaking with Therese Melden and Judy Klein of an organization called Leading ladies. Leading Ladies is a civic action group that happens to have the North Shore as its home base, but it is concerned with issues that affect all families in all communities. On May 25th, Leading Ladies is hosting a fundraising event at the Cabot Theater for Ukrainian refugees. Hi Therese and Judy, thank you for being here.
Therese Melden:
Hi, Heather.
Judy Klein:
Thank you for having us.
Therese Melden:
Thank you.
Heather Atwood:
So can you start out telling us a little bit about the work Leading Ladies does and then about this fundraiser?
Therese Melden:
Sure. Leading ladies is a group headquartered here in the North Shore, as you said, and we’re committed to action around issues that affect women and children. We are committed to equal access for all in education, healthcare, housing, food jobs, political representation, whatever their ethnicity, race, religion, or sexual identity is.
Judy Klein:
We’re also committed to common sense gun laws, humane immigration policies and the sustainability of our planet.
Heather Atwood:
And how has this dedication manifested? What kind of work have you done to actually support these themes?
Therese Melden:
We’ve partnered with the Cabot theater for some time now.
Judy Klein:
Hmm.
Therese Melden:
And we became involved in their community conversations program. Prior to that, we were doing some of the same work, but virtually since COVID sort of interrupted our flow, but we’ve hosted programs on homeless women veterans. We did that around Veteran’s Day. We’ve done one on food insecurity on college campuses. What were some of the others?
Judy Klein:
But we also… When the federal government was making it available to have tax fund rebates available to people, we realized that a lot of people were going to be left out of that because they didn’t have access to the information about how to do that because it was only available in English. So we had it translated into Spanish, Arabic and-
Therese Melden:
Portuguese.
Judy Klein:
… Portuguese.
Heather Atwood:
Wow.
Judy Klein:
And we contacted Representative Morton’s office and various other social action agencies around the North Shore and we made our translations available to their clientele so that they be able to access these funds that otherwise they might not have been able to. So part of what we do is, try to recognize some needs that may not have been given attention by other organizations or by other federal or state or local agencies and to try to make the general population aware of those needs and also for us to fill some gaps that haven’t been filled there.
Judy Klein:
We also held our first ever, and we hope to make it annual, film contest for high school students, where we asked them to create three to five minute videos about social action issues that were of importance to them. And we just had some incredible submissions for that.
Judy Klein:
Again, the Cabot Theater was generous in letting us screen the top 10 submissions and we had a lot of people attend that. The kids did a marvelous job and really showed that they are our future because they care deeply about these issues and for them then to get this attention and recognition for their interest in these was very rewarding for them and for us.
Heather Atwood:
What a wonderful project. So high schools on the North Shore?
Judy Klein:
We opened it to anybody in Massachusetts who went to school in Massachusetts, although it ended up being primarily the North Shore. Although, a couple of our winners were from kind of a little farther, Redding and-
Therese Melden:
Maynard.
Judy Klein:
… Maynard. Yeah. Yeah. So it extended a little farther than the North Shore. And we hope to do that again next year. It was really wonderful.
Heather Atwood:
Well, keep us posted about that event. That’s wonderful and we’re always interested in when hearing about our young people doing… They’re incredibly sensitive and civic minded and if you’re not in the school system, you may not be engaged with that so much.
Judy Klein:
Absolutely. We also just last month had our second annual book fair where we had, it was a swap and sale. So you could bring used books, you could swap them for other used books or you could donate them. And the books that were left, went to various programs, a program in Lawrence that serves homeless youth and young adults and to the literacy program in Lynn called Real and then to a bookstore that’s… They have two stores, one in Boston and one in Waltham and it’s run by kids who have been in the foster system themselves to teach them work habits and give them confidence. Then the money we raised went to all of those programs as well. We do a variety of things.
Heather Atwood:
Yeah. You guys are in it. You’re doing the hard work. So tell everybody about the benefit for the Ukrainian refugees.
Therese Melden:
Okay. We at Leading Ladies are very excited to bring Bella, An Immigrant’s Tale, to Beverly to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees.
Judy Klein:
We’re all feeling saddened by the horrors of this war, and we’re all struggling to find ways to support the victims.
Therese Melden:
And this show reminds us of another time at the beginning of the 20th century, when victims of Russian oppression escaped and made new lives in America. This plays a story of hope and we all need some hope right now.
Judy Klein:
The performance provides a way for all of us to give what we can to support the victims of this oppression.
Therese Melden:
And we hope the North Shore will show its empathy and generosity by joining us on Wednesday, May 25th for an evening of live theater at the Cabot to support the people of Ukraine.
Heather Atwood:
So it’s a one-woman show and it’s-
Therese Melden:
Yes.
Heather Atwood:
… and who is the writer?
Judy Klein:
Her name is Vicky Summers. So she wrote it and she performs it and she performs many different characters within it. It’s based on her grandmother’s story. Her grandmother escaped the pogroms of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century and made a life for herself in America. And Vicky was very close to this grandmother and felt that she wanted to pay tribute to her through this play.
Judy Klein:
Vicky has taught theater and performed in theater all her life, but this is a piece that’s very near and dear to her heart. She’s performed it in Florida, where she lived for most of her adult life, but also most recently down the Cape. She currently lives outside Portland so she’ll be coming from Portland to do this for one night for us as…
Judy Klein:
The performance down the Cape was also a benefit for Ukraine and they raised $7,000 in one night in a theater much smaller than the Cabot. So we’re hoping that our community on the North Shore will best that and show their generosity and caring.
Heather Atwood:
Yes, you have a specific goal you’re trying to raise and you have channels where you want to put those goals, right? The funds. So tell us about that.
Therese Melden:
Oh right. We’ve identified three organizations to support, and one is Red Cross Ukraine, the World Central Kitchen and the International-
Judy Klein:
Rescue Committee.
Therese Melden:
… Rescue Committee.
Heather Atwood:
So important vetted organizations so people know that their donations will be going to directly help the Ukrainian refugees.
Judy Klein:
Exactly. We carefully looked at ones that had been vetted by other organizations where there was little overhead and where the funds went directly to the people who need them.
Therese Melden:
And every cent that is raised on May 25th goes-
Judy Klein:
Goes there.
Therese Melden:
… goes directly to those three organizations.
Judy Klein:
Right.
Heather Atwood:
Great. Well, I want you to provide all the contact information, but first I want you both to tell me where this comes from in you. What has inspired you to do all this work that is really just, it’s important, it’s solid. It’s really tangible. You are tangibly helping people as opposed to… There’s nothing abstract about it. So [inaudible 00:09:40] the two of you?
Therese Melden:
Well, I grew up in a family that did service work and my father was very active in our church as was my mom. So we grew up seeing social justice work being done and so I think that’s where it comes from. But of course being really a child of the 70s, I was born long before that, but there was a lot going on in middle school, high school, college, and it just it continued to fuel my desire to have purpose and to be useful.
So when we came up with this idea, Judy’s big, beautiful brain is exactly what we needed because she is absolutely socially justice wired as well.
Judy Klein:
And I think just to echo that, I grew up in a family, I am second generation in this country. My grandmother came from Ukraine. She escaped the pogroms, but in terms of just generally social justice, yeah, I’m a child of the 60s. I’m also a child of privilege, whereas my mother grew up in poverty. So I recognize how lucky I am and how unlucky so many other people are in this country and I feel a responsibility to work towards equity. I see what my mother grew up with and how that changed in the next generation and how so many people are still living with inequity in this country and how, that I feel a compulsion to do something that can maybe move that needle just a tiny bit.
Heather Atwood:
Well, how can people, first of all, purchase tickets to Bella on May 25th and how can people learn more about Leaving Ladies?
Therese Melden:
Okay. Well, to purchase tickets to Bella, you can go to thecabot.org and I’m not sure… Is it on their landing page? Just go into Events. Into Events or Community Conversations, and you’ll be able to find it. If you’re unable to attend, please, please make donations, because as we said, we do… Our goal is $10,000 for that night so that would go a long way, helping all three of the organizations we’ve identified.
Judy Klein:
And to learn more about Leading Ladies, go to leadingladies.vote.org.
Heather Atwood:
Great. Well, thank you so much and I hope we can continue to have conversations. Whenever you’re doing something that you want to get the word out there, we can just talk about what you’re doing and thank you for it.
Judy Klein:
Well, we’d love that. Just to put a little plug in on, June 8th, during Pride Month, we will be having Alex Myers who teaches at Phillips Exeter and is a transgender man. He will be speaking about the importance of gender identity at the Cabot.
Heather Atwood:
Oh, great. Great. Yeah. All right. Well, we look forward to that. Come back soon. Okay?
Judy Klein:
Thank you so much, Heather.
Therese Melden:
Thank you, Heather.
