Elena Krinina and Peter Ogram Wedding Registry

As of 3/10/2010 Donated: $7,042.55; Sent to Orphanage: $7,042.55;
Status: Completed on 5/31/2009
Thanks for kind donations: Philip Ogram, Elena Krinina (On behalf of Elena Romanova), Philip Robinson, Olga Tsaregradskaya, Lidia Bozhevolnaya, Vladimir Kozlov, Eric Hoffmann, Alexander Shalash, Elena Krinina (On behalf of Gayane Shabad), Elvira Skamara, Charles Burgess, Elena Krinina, Peter Ogram (On behalf of John Fisher & Dorothy Robinson), Brian Ferris, Edna Constand, Lara Englund, J Sibarium, Wanda Krall, Sabeena Ahmad, Laurie Stelzer, Tristan Sjoberg, Margaret Saxby, Alice Dietrich, 3 Ring Circles, Claudia Croce, Kirill & Keila Bogouslavski, Jonathan Soverns, Bill Ryerson,
This permanent fund has supported the following projects: Orphanage Relief Fund,

Updates

Hello everyone:

It’s hard to imagine a year has gone by since we were all in Orta on Oct 11, 2008. We hope you are all well, one year on.

This is a good time to update you on our project to work with iOrphan to spend our wedding registry funds on the orphanage where I spent time when I was growing up (see original story below).

In the end, you provided just over USD 7,000, which my sister then kindly agreed to help distribute to the orphanage.

You would have thought it would be easy to distribute 7,000 dollars to an orphanage in need of funding. In the end – for lots of reasons – it was a challenging and time-consuming task and, in some respects, highlighted the problems and inefficiencies I wrote about originally.

Now though, I’m happy to say that the items requested by the orphanage have been purchased, delivered, and accounted for.

They were…
- 10 lamps of different kinds
- 1 wooden rack for clothes
- 3 LCD TV's and DVD player
- 2 fish tanks
- 2 refrigerator
- 2 freezers
- 12 dinning tables and 36 chairs
- 10 bedside table

Pictured below is the TV, an aquarium, the tables and chairs, the orphanage, and the director (Martynova Lyudmila Filippovna) who worked with my sister to get these items in place.

Peter and I would like to thank you again for your donations and thank especially my sister for taking care of everything locally.

Best wishes,

Elena & Peter

Supporting Documents

Ledger

Receipt 1

Receipt 2

Photos

About Elena Krinina and Peter Ogram Wedding

Elena Krinina and Peter Ogram in Venice

Peter and I would like to ask you to consider an alternative to sending us wedding gifts! As some of you know, I spent 6 years in an orphanage in Khabarovsk, in the Russian Far East. It is a painful experience to be an orphan, but we were relatively well looked-after in terms of food and clothing, medical care, and education. I stayed in what was called – somewhat misleadingly – a boarding school, which is simply an orphanage for kids whose distant relatives may take them home for short stay weekends from time to time.

But conditions at orphanages in Russia have deteriorated since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The system of state support for even basic healthcare, education, food and clothing has in many cases simply stopped. This has had an enormous effect, because it is clear that a by-default painful situation is being made worse by the environment of negligence and indifference.

Ascent Russian Orphan Aid Foundation works to fill this gap in orphanages near where I grew up, and we would like to ask you to join us in supporting this group. We understand that this kind of thing is not everyone's cup of tea, so please give as much or as little as you like. Or, as a guideline, you might give what you would ordinarily give for a wedding present.

We are working with the Foundation's President Kira Bogouslavski to identify a small project to which all of our donations can be put to immediate and effective use. If you have any questions about the Foundation or its activities, please feel free to contact Kira or one of us directly, or just tour the website. We will add a link to the project that we decide to sponsor and keep you updated on the progress.

Thank you again and all the best,

Elena Krinina ( ) and Peter Ogram ( )