The Veiled Prophet Ball is the grandest social event of the year, but the VP organization’s relevance goes much deeper than an annual soiree. With a mission of ‘helping make St. Louis a better place for all,’ the Veiled Prophet Foundation, the organization’s philanthropic arm, generates funding and volunteer support for a variety of projects, gifts and events.
Gifts include The Fallen Officer Memorial at the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters downtown, the illumination of Eads Bridge and the construction of the Arch’s Grand Staircase. A newer annual event, a fashion show hosted with Saks Fifth Avenue, generates funds to be used for community service programs, says VP spokesperson Tom Cooke.
Community service always has been a cornerstone of the Veiled Prophet, and that has increased in recent years, with the VP expanding its efforts in a variety of ways through a Community Service Initiative, launched in 2003. “We want to integrate community service into everything we do, from the fair and the ball to the parade and other special events,” Cooke says.
An important part of the Initiative is the Maids of Honor project, which encourages all the young women in the ball to participate in service projects. The Maids who walked in the 2015 Ball each participated in up to six projects over the past three years, says David Plufka, head of community service.
Since the Initiative’s founding, the Maids project has grown to involve 500 volunteers annually working on 20 projects for 14 organizations, Plufka adds. Beyond volunteer power, the VP also has contributed more than $25,000 in the last year alone to fund materials for many of the projects. Among the organizations that benefit are Rainbow Village, Marian Middle School, U.S. Vets, Beyond Housing, BrightSide St. Louis, Great Circle and St. Patrick Center.
Another beneficiary is Food Outreach. Twice each summer, dads and daughters visit the nonprofit to cook and pack up to 8,000 units of food, Plufka says. This year the VP also distributed 1,500 backpacks filled with school supplies to children in the Normandy School District. “It was rewarding knowing that those kids were going to start school with brand new backpacks,” Plufka says. “We provided a real service to those families and to the Normandy School District, which is trying to gain accreditation and could use some positive reinforcement.”
And it’s not just the Maids and their dads working to better the community—many of the projects involve the whole family, including Junior Maids, who are sixth-graders expected to walk in the Ball in the future. They have their own project, which this year was assembling 1,050 packages for Operation Sunscreen, a nonprofit dedicated to sending care packages to soldiers deployed overseas.
It’s all part of a strategy to continue improving the city and to strengthen ties to St. Louis, explains Plufka. “We want the Maids of Honor project to promote and instill in our children a sense of belonging,” he says. “To make the community a better place for all, you have to roll up your sleeves and do what you can. In our members and their families, I see a legitimate and earnest desire to want to give back.”
On the cover: 2015 Veiled Prophet Queen of Love and Beauty Charlotte Capen Jones, pictured with her father, Meredith C. Jones III, was crowned Dec. 22 at the 131st Veiled Prophet Ball. Fifty-seven young women participated in the ceremony and were honored for their commitment to the community.
Pictured: VP dads and daughters at a Beyond Housing community service project
Photo courtesy of the VP Royal Photography Committee
