Chapter 662: Charity Auction

"Unlike natural disasters like droughts, floods, or earthquakes, hunger is often overlooked and fails to draw public attention around the world."

Since he was establishing a dedicated foundation, Duke made sure to give the subject its full weight. "Hunger doesn't only happen in specific places—it is widespread across the slums, shantytowns, and neglected rural regions of two continents. Nor does hunger only strike at specific times. For many years now, the number of hungry children has continued to grow."

There was no denying that the speech Penny Kalis had drafted for Duke was sharply targeted.

"The abolition of slavery, the end of colonialism, the dismantling of apartheid, concern for environmental issues, and the recognition of women's rights are all major social changes of the modern era, and every one of them began as a written commitment before finally turning into real action. Now that we have entered a new century, it is time for us to focus on the plight of children."

The speech offered more than just appeals; it was backed by hard data.

"Right now, 40,000 children lose their lives every single day, and 280,000 die each week. No natural disaster, whether flood or earthquake, can claim the lives of that many children. The killers taking their lives are diseases brought on by hunger, the most terrifying of which is dehydration caused by dysentery—a condition triggered by unsafe drinking water and malnutrition."

Duke looked up at the guests seated below and said, "These diseases are actually all preventable. It takes only 6 cents to treat a child's dehydration, and spending 84 cents a year can prevent a child from going blind due to a vitamin A deficiency! Children should be our greatest treasure, and the future hope of our world."

At this point, Duke drove the message home once more. "Children are our most vital resource and our hope for the future. We shouldn't merely ensure that children survive; we must also keep them safe from emotional, social, and physical abuse. Only then is it possible to envision a world free of turmoil and violence. And turning that vision into reality depends on us."

After going on at such length, he finally steered the topic to the newly established foundation. "The D&S Children's Fund is both a charitable organization and a humanitarian one. It will carry out welfare relief while also doing everything in its power to help these people solve future challenges. Miss Scarlett Johansson has visited African nations such as Ethiopia and Sudan. She told me that in those places, what you see isn't hands reaching out for handouts, but a silent dignity—and a longing for the chance to help themselves."

"The duty of the D&S Children's Fund is to protect children and keep them safe from hunger, thirst, disease, abuse, and death!"

Naturally, the slogans for an undertaking like this had to ring loud and clear.

"Thank you!"

Gathering his notes, Duke gave a slight bow and stepped off the stage.

Warm applause erupted from the audience, as though countless starving children in Africa had already been lifted out of their plight by Duke's words alone.

"A wonderful speech."

Duke had barely sat down when he heard his mother's remark. He smiled, glanced toward the publicist across the table, and said, "I ought to give Penny a proper thank-you later."

"It's my job."

Penny Kalis turned toward Scarlett. "Sweetheart, you're up."

"I've been ready for a while."

As the foundation's other host, Scarlett Johansson naturally had to go up and say a few words as well. Unlike Duke, who had never been to Africa, she kept her speech quite brief. Since she regularly took part in Hollywood's political rallies, she hadn't needed to draft anything in advance.

As Scarlett walked onto the stage, another wave of warm applause swept the room.

"Thank you, thank you all for your support!"

Her speech was much shorter. "Even as we step into the twenty-first century, there are still many problems that call for reflection."

Compared to an amateur like Duke, the emotion Scarlett poured out felt far more sincere. "When we look around us, we find that the promises made in the past remain unfulfilled. Many people still live in poverty and endure hunger. Among them, I also see children—their swollen bellies, their sorrowful eyes, and their anguished faces..."

At that moment, Scarlett was delivering an Oscar-caliber performance. "Today, as the entire world grows more closely connected, we also find an ironic truth—whether a country is rich or poor, there are always children suffering there to one degree or another. What globalization has truly unified is our neglect, abuse, and lack of care toward them."

She turned her head, pointed to the foundation's logo on the backdrop, and said, "The mission of the D&S Children's Fund is to bring the whole world's attention to these children, to urge people not to forget them, not to let them become victims of empty talk, and to help them live better lives."

Scarlett's eyes shifted toward Duke. "Just as Director Rosenberg said, in those parts of Africa, what I saw wasn't hands reaching out for handouts, but a silent dignity—and a longing for the chance to help themselves!"

Warm applause rang out across the ballroom once again.

Once the applause died down a little, Scarlett Johansson said with reddened eyes, "The world is inherently unfair. Yet there is only one world, and as it grows smaller, contact between people inevitably grows more frequent. Living in an environment like this, those who are wealthy have an obligation and a responsibility to help those who have nothing!"

She bowed from the waist. "Thank you!"

Stepping off the stage, Scarlett returned to the table and sat back down beside Duke. Still seemingly caught up in the emotion of the moment, she asked, "How much in donations do you think we'll raise?"

Duke patted her hand gently. "Whatever the amount, it's good."

Unlike other Hollywood stars, he wouldn't play tricks with his own charity foundation; this would be a foundation with completely open, transparent, and clear accounts.

With Duke's net worth, there was no need for him to have designs on charity funds anyway.

Many of the charity foundations under the names of Hollywood stars were little more than fronts for funding their own lavish lifestyles under the banner of philanthropy.

To a certain extent, rather than trusting those celebrity charity foundations, people were better off donating their money to the American Red Cross Association.

The flip side of that coin was the size of celebrity donations. Whenever a star publicly announced a donation of a certain sum to a foundation, actually getting that money into the account was no small feat.

The prime example of this was Oprah. This Black woman, famous for being empathetic and warmhearted, was a notorious deadbeat when it came to pledges; every so often she would toss out a donation figure on someone's show, yet the number of times she actually followed through could be counted on one hand.

Naturally, Duke wouldn't invite someone like that.

Though he had his own ulterior motives for doing charity work, he would never stoop to something as tasteless as defaulting on a pledge.

A party like this naturally wouldn't be complete without a charity auction, and a professional auctioneer from Sotheby's presided over the event.

The first items up for bid had all been provided by the hosts.

First to appear onstage was a custom handmade crocodile-skin handbag donated by Mrs. Leah.

Although it was an auction with no reserve price, the bidding was driven up in an instant.

Sofia Coppola was the first to raise her paddle. "Fifty thousand dollars!"

Right beside her, Charlize Theron gave a faint smile and said, "Sorry, Sofia."

With that, she raised her own paddle as well. "Sixty thousand dollars!"

At a table in the front row, George Lucas's current girlfriend, Mellody Hobson, raised her paddle too. "One hundred thousand dollars!"

Charlize Theron raised her paddle again. "Two hundred thousand dollars!"

The ballroom gradually quieted down. Just as Sofia Coppola was about to lift her paddle, Scarlett Johansson, sitting beside Duke, gestured toward the stage.

"Three hundred thousand dollars!"

Charlize Theron frowned slightly, but didn't raise her paddle again.

In the end, the handbag was won back by Scarlett Johansson for 300,000 dollars.

Next, a pair of emerald earrings donated by Scarlett was bought by Duke for 400,000 dollars.

This was a charity auction; just like in the opening round, as long as there wasn't an irreconcilable feud between them, very few people would keep bidding aggressively once someone else had shown a clear intent to take the item.

Of course, there were always exceptions, such as the next lot Duke put up.

"This is a film reel of a student experimental short shot by Mr. Duke Rosenberg before he entered Hollywood—no reserve price!"

In Duke's eyes, the baffling things he had shot back then had no real value at all.

To everyone else, however, it was a completely different story.

That was especially true for those hoping to leave a deep impression on Duke or remind him of their own existence.

"Mom, I want that reel!"

After asking her mother, Taylor Swift was the first to raise her paddle. "Fifty thousand dollars!"

Scarlett certainly wouldn't let something of Duke's end up in an outsider's hands, and she stepped in without hesitation. "Two hundred thousand dollars!"

Based on past experience, once she showed a strong intent to buy, nobody else would contest it, but this time was an exception.

Charlize Theron cast a cool glance her way and raised the paddle in her hand as well. "Three hundred thousand dollars!"

Hearing that voice, Scarlett turned her head to look and immediately spotted the strikingly tall Charlize Theron. "Four hundred thousand dollars."

Toward the back rows, Taylor Swift's hand had already moved well away from her paddle; for someone like her who had only released a single song, the current price was undoubtedly an astronomical figure.

"Four hundred thousand dollars!" Charlize Theron noticed Scarlett's gaze as well and simply offered a smile.

Scarlett raised the bid once again. "Five hundred thousand dollars."