I like to call it the "poor box." It's the wooden box screwed to our door, with the hope that visitors to the museum will be moved to leave a token of their appreciation. Good thing tokens don't exist anymore. Or else we'd get them, along with wooden nickels, and other useless objects. Somebody once made like they were stuffing notes into the slot; the "notes" were in fact used tickets to Tangier's only other museum, which charges 10 dirhams or about one Euro. At least they didn't litter the street with their worthless tickets.
So I decided to explain what the box is for. Short of plastering $ signs all over it, I thought of a discreet "thank you" on the side of the box:
It's way too discreet, I know.
After all, some people might think we're thanking them just for coming, and sharing their presence with us.
So I decided to indicate what we are about. Again, the message is way too subtle for some people. "Restoration" and "National Historic Landmark" might not hit the right note with some casual visitors. Add "nonprofit" and they might start getting the idea. Then throw in some of our activities – "women's literacy" and "research library" – and the more thoughtful will start to realize that we might need some money to offer these programs.
So there it is. Our local micro-financing effort, trying to raise the average donation from 18 cents to, well, more than that.
But if you're reading this in a place from other than Tangier, the best thing is to send money to our US sponsors. Details are here. And thank you for your tax-deductible help!
Gerald Loftus
