25th Anniversary of UNICEF’S “Trick-or-Treat” 1975 Oct 30th

Text of PRESS RELEASE

UNICEF information R/75/103

UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN’S HALLOWEEN BENEFIT FOR UNICEF

Children of the United Nations community and their parents – delegates and staff — will be entertained by the TV star Sonny Fox, a magician and a fire eater at a Halloween Party for UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, Thursday, October 30, 6 p.m. at the Dag Hammarskjo1d Auditorium. All news media are welcome.

The event is sponsored by the Meditation Group (at the United Nations), which believes a spiritual approach as well as a political approach is necessary to bring about world peace. Halloween which falls on October 31, has been designated UNICEF DAY in the U. S.

Sri Chinmoy, Leader of the Meditation Group (at the United Nations) will open the programme with a special meditation for the children. He will also present a check from proceeds of a bazaar sponsored by the Meditation Group to Mr. Henry Labouisse, Executive Director of UNICEF. Mr. Labouisse will also address the gathering.

Twenty-five Halloweens ago, a Sunday School class in Penrsylvania decided that rather than just collecting candy for themselves on Halloween, they would collect coins to help their less fortunate contemporaries in other parts of the world. They brought the proceeds, $17.00 to UNICEF. Within years, the idea had spread to every one of the 50 states in the U.S. and all provinces of Canada. In 1974, Halloween collections in North America amounted to some $4, 000,000 .

UNICEF PUBLIC INFORMATION DIVISION, UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK

Programme Introduction:

Members of the United Nations Community: Young and old. welcome to our celebration of Universal Children’s Day and the 25th Anniversary of “Trick or Treat for UNICEF”.

In AUSTRALIA, On Universal Children’s Day, a Church service has been conducted by the Children themselves, including readings from Baha”i, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Faiths.

In NORWAY there are church services and in Kenya a special prayers are offered.-

In TRINIDAD ceremonies stressing inter-racial and inter religious friendships are held.

In YUGOSLAVIA at noon on Children’s Day 10,000 children meet in the main square of the capital for 5 minutes of silence to express their desire for peace.

In keeping with these aspects of the celebration of Universal Children’s Day around the world, Sri Chinmoy, leader of the meditation Group at the United Nations will open our programme with a short talk and Silent Prayer.

Excerpt from October 1975 Bulletin : “Meditation at the United Nations”:

On Thursday, October 30, children of the United Nations community and their parents were entertained by TV star Sonny Fox, Ashrita the Magician, Ms. Chandika Kapilika (Linda Serlin) of UNICEF and others at a Halloween party for UNICEF in the Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium.

ny268-1975-oct-30-harry-Labouisse-exec-dir-unicef-children-party

The event was co sponsored by the Meditation Group at the UN and UNICEF. Sri Chinmoy opened the programme with a short song and then spoke to the children :

Sweet children , dear young friends, my heart is all joy and pride to be in your loving company. I wish to tell you th at I h ave hundreds of friends. Most of them are grown-up people . But I treasure the company of the children much more than I treasure the company of my grown-up friends. Why? Because you are all heart ; you are all joy.

My young friends, do you know that there is a person who loves you infinitely more than your best friend loves you? Do you want to know his name? His name is God.

Do you know there is a person who loves you infinitely more than your dear parents love you?

Do you want to know his name? His name is God. Do you know there is a person who loves you infinitely more than you love yourselves? Do you want to know his name? His name is God.

Do you want me to prove it? It is very easy to prove .

Sri Chinmoy meditates before addressing the children

Your best friend never feels that you are as great as God. But God always feels that you are as great as He is.

Your parents never feel that you are as good as God. But God always feels that you are as good as He is. You never knew that you are another God. But God knows that you are another God and He all the time tells you that very thing. But in order to hear His Voice, you have to p ray lovingly every morning and every evening. Please ask your parents to teach you how to p ray. If you pray daily, I assure you one day you will hear God’s Voice. And then what I have just told you, you yourselves will be able to hear directly from God.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Intro to Presentation:

Sri Chinmoy on behalf of the Meditation Group at the UN will present a check and small gift to Mr. Labouisse, The Executive Director of UNICEF.

The Check represents the results of a fundraising event for UNICEF which some of you attended. It was hled in the lobby of the UN Secretariat and sponsored by the Meditation Group at the UN

Sri Chinmoy then presented Mr. Henry Labouisse, Executive Director of UNICEF, with a gift and the proceeds from a bazaar held earlier in the month for UNICEF by the Meditation Group at the UN.

Sri Chinmoy: Dear Mr. Labouisse, most respected spiritual brother, with my heart’s utmost humility and devotedness, on behalf of our meditation group I wish to present you this small gift as a token of our deepest appreciation and admiration for your most significant contribution – not only to your country- but to the world at large. As a most distinguished political figure , as a lover of your great country and as a lover of mankind, you have done something that is most illumining.

Caption from Photo at top of article

Sri Chinmoy (right) offers presentation to Mr. Henry Labouisse, Executive Director of UNICEF (left)

And I am sure that by the infinite Grace of the author of all Good you will be doing infinitely more than what you have been doing for us, your brothers and sisters.

Here we are in the company of the sweet children. Children are tomorrow’s pathfinders , the harbingers and fa te-makers of tomorrow’s world. I am extremely grateful to you, for you a re elevating and illumining the consciousness of children’s lives. Your service to the children , your service to your country and to humanity are ever imprinted on the tablet of the God- loving, and God-serving and aspiring humanity.

The following is Mr. Labouisse ‘s address to the children :

I want to say a very, very few words because you have a lot of fun coming. Some of you young children won’t believe me when I say that when I was much, much younger than the youngest one here, I used to go a round and collect for Halloween. We have been doing that for many, many, many years. We made noise, we made mischief, we did lots of things we should not have done.

About twenty-five years ago a young group of children in Philadelphia decided they wanted to get dressed up as witches and hobgoblins – like all the costumes that you have on. They went out and decided they would collect something , not selfishly for themselves, but so they could give it to somebody, and they gave it to UNICEF. What they collected was $17 , and that was twenty-five years ago.

Last year, instead of $17 , children like you in this country and in Canada in one day collected $4 million dollars for UNICEF. Now that’s an enormous number of pennies and nickels and dimes and quarters, and that’s a huge, huge amount. It could probably fill this room. Four million dollars is about four percent of what UNICEF is spending this year. In other words, you children collected in one day last year four cents of every dollar that UNICEF is spending for children of the world.

Now, what will one dollar do? One dollar will buy enough vitamin A to protect forty children in one year from blindness caused by malnutrition. One dollar will buy enough vaccine to inoculate ten children against polio or sixty children against tuberculosis. One dollar will buy three boxes of chalk so that teachers can go and write their lessons on the blackboard . One dollar will buy fifty pencils and erasers. And when you raise up five dollars , this five dollars will buy enough baby fish to put in a pond to produce protein food for many, many children in villages in many countries of this world. So it is a wonderfully important thing that you children are doing. Remember when you go out that you are doing this for children who come from many lands of the world. You come from many lands of the world, so it for your cousins, your friends. So it is a great thing that you are doing and I want to thank each and everyone of you for what you are doing.

And I also would like, Sri Chinmoy, to express our very deep gratitude to you and your meditation group – and not only for this very wonderful gift that you have collected for us. You can imagine how many children will benefit in the world from this gift.

“Trick-or-Treat” started spontaneously twenty five years ago. And this is also spontaneous. This is a spontaneous, thing that has been started by this meditation group; it commemorates twenty-five years of “Trick-or-Treat” and it’s also a tribute to all of the world’s children.

And I want to just say how happy I am to be able to be here to participate in this and to thank you. I am grateful to you and all of your colleagues. And now I think it’s time to get along with your programme.

Following are the two sing -along songs which the children joined in singing with Mrs. Linda Serlin, who played the guitar accompaniment .

IT’S A SMALL WORLD

It’s a world of laughter, a world of tears

It’s a world of hopes and a world of fears

There’s so much that we share

That it ‘s time we’re aware

It’s a Small World after all.

There’s just one moon and one golden sun

And a smile means friendship to everyone

Though the mountains divide

And the oceans are wide

It’s a Small World after all. ( repeat)

I’D LIKE TO TEACH THE WORLD TO SING

I’d like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony

I’d like to hold it in my arms and keep it company

I’d like to build the world a home and furnish it with love

Grow apple trees and honey bees and snow-white turtle doves

I’d like to see the world for once, all standing hand in hand

And hear them echo through the hills

For peace throughout the land

CHORUS

That’s the song I hear

Let the world sing today

A song of peace that echoes on

And never goes away.

Ms. Chandika Kaplika (Linda Serlin) of UNICEF singing with children at Trick-or-Treat function

UNICEF

UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN’S FUND – FONDS DES NATIONS UNIES POUR L’ENFANCE

– UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK

November 10, 1975

Dear Sri Chinmoy ,

This is just a note to tell you again how deeply grateful we in UNICEF are to you and the Meditation Group.

The Benefit Proqramme in the Dag Hammarskjold Auditorium on October 30 was a real inspiration to us all, and I am sure that it meant a great deal to the children who participated. It was indeed very thoughtful on the part of those who sponsored the gathering, including Ms. Agatha Pratt, Mr. ( Adhiratha ) Kevin Keefe and Ms. Merri Weisbrot, to commemorate 25 years of “Trick or Treat” in this manner.

I also wish to express our heartful thanks to you and to the many others in the Meditation Group for the contribution of $500, derived from the proceeds of the Bazaar the Meditation Group sponsored on 16 October. An appropriate receipt will be sent to you in due course.

I hope that you wilt convey our appreciation and thanks to all the members of your Group.

Sincerely yours,

Henry R. Labouisse

Executive Director

Sri Chinmoy

Meditation Group

United Nations

New York, NY 10017

Photo H. Labouisse Executive Director of UNICEF

Test of Letter of Appreciation

from the US Committee for UNICEF,

President, Mrs. Guido Pantaleoni, Jr.

United States Committee for

UNICEF

United Nations. New York

Office of The President

31 October 1975

You must feel very happy about yesterday’s event. The turn-out was great, everything went off smoothly,’ and your participants all entered into the spirit of the occasion. I am sure Mr. Labouisse was as pleased as Lloyd Bailey and I were.

My only regret was that I had to leave before the end to keep a long-time commitment, but I shared the children’s singing and fun with Sonny Fox. Sonny has Such real understanding of children, and empathy with them.

From long experience, I know what a great amount of labour goes into the mounting of even the simplest kind of production, and, I do want to congratulate you and Agatha’ and -your other colleagues on a beautiful piece of work. For me the Meditation Group established just the right mood for a very special observance.

with Much Appreciation

(signed)

Mrs. Guido Pantaleoni, Jr. President

Helping Children – build a better world

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