On Thursday, February 9th Mabopane Foundation celebrated its first “Be The Light”event of 2023 commemorating 25 years of experiencing God’s hand of provision for the beautiful children of Ya Bana Village. An intimate fundraising gala held at Evermore Farms was attended by long-time ministry partners and first time foundation supporters. We came together in this beautiful setting to enjoy delicious food, beautiful music, wonderful company and to hear the “story” of Mabopane so clearly presented by Sarah Hall and Becky Young. Through tremendous generosity, over $30 thousand dollars was raised for the support of Ya Bana Village. We want to thank our underwriters, business partners and everyone who contributed to this incredible event with their time, their heart, their talents, their monetary donations, and their sharing with others about the on-going ministry of Mabopane Foundation!

At a second “Be The Light” event, we will continue to celebrate 25 years - this time in honor of our highly valued and much appreciated volunteers/ministry partners without whom the day-to-day operation of Mabopane would not be possible. This event will occur in early summer. As we look back, we see God’s faithfulness over the past 25 years. As we look forward, we trust in His abundant and continued blessing on Mabopane, on the beautiful children of Ya Bana Village, and on all those who support this ministry.

This year we will hold our much-loved annual Spring Plant Sale on Friday April 28th and Saturday April 29th. Every year we offer a wide variety of perennials, small shrubs and trees, and even some herbs for our shoppers to add to their yard and gardens. We always receive a wonderful selection of donated plants. We are asking all of our faithful friends of Mabopane to consider digging up and separating some of their perennials and houseplants for selling at our Spring Plant Sale. Now is a perfect time to do so. This way the plants can start to put out roots and get established beforehand. If anyone needs pots or containers, please let us know. Also if you enjoy working with plants and would like to help out at the sale, please contact Heidi Soden, 919-302-1171,or hsoden@yahoo.com.

When you walk into the Mission House during a sale you will most likely be greeted by a sweet, sweet aroma of breads and delicious confectioneries coming from our Baked Goods Booth. This wonderful assortment is provided by generous volunteer bakers as well as Panera Bread’s Apex and Holly Springs locations.

We are so grateful for the relationship we established with Apex Peak United Methodist Church who gave us their share of the Apex Panera Bread donations on some occasions when we had a Pop-Up Sale weekend but no Panera. Additionally in October, we started to receive donations from the Panera in Holly Springs.

We have an unusual problem at the Mission House—the lack of nice furniture to display and sell. Having beautiful and tastefully decorated rooms has always been a source of pride at the Mission House and enhanced our sales. Please pass the word to your friends that we have a need and will appreciate their donations. All donations should be in excellent condition.

We greatly appreciate pictures prior to drop off in order to have an idea of what to expect and determine if we can accept your items.
You can email pictures to Ashley at admin@mabopanekids.org.

Thank you so much!

This month we would like to recognize Rick and Sandra Carringer in our Hearts and Hands spotlight. Rick is the owner of Carringer Agricultural Research Service, Inc (CARS) which was established in 2007 and specializes in conducting field research to support the seed industry in developing and registering genetically modified crops.  CARS currently has research projects underway in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and South Africa.  The project in South Africa includes development of novel technology to economically improve hybrid seed corn production.  This research is sponsored by the Gates Foundation and will result in small holders having access to improved seed that will increase their production capacity of maize, a staple food in all of Africa.  

Several years ago, Rick reached out to see if he could take items to Ya Bana Village for us when he travels to SA. On a recent trip, Rick and Sandra carried over two, 70-pound bags containing black leather school shoes and color coordinated, heavy duty plastic dinnerware for each of the nine houses. Such a sweet blessing for us and such a help to Becky who regularly takes as much luggage as possible filled with needed supplies.