The Vheneka office is quiet, the piping bags are abandoned, the oven is off, and sprinkles can be found littering the ground in obscure places. All of this is the aftermath of our amazing Mandela day project. This year Vheneka decided to give back to the community by using our newly acquired culinary skills. Mandela Day is the one-month marker of our inaugural class of students. There is no better way to celebrate growth than by giving back to those in our community. We have been planning our Mandela Day event for months, and to see the reward of this hard work is sweet. The immense change that has occurred at Vheneka in one month is incredible.
We decided, since Mandela Day focuses on children, to donate cupcakes and smiles to the SOS Children’s Village. The students as well as donor partners worked hand-in-hand to bake and decorate 110 cupcakes and 110 meringues. The students have been practicing recipes and piping skills for the past month to make sure the product we put out into the community was of the highest quality—and they were delicious. Once the cupcakes were handed out and mass amounts of sugary goodness were consumed, the smiles were contagious. The SOS Village allowed for our students to hone in on their baking skills and present an incredible product to the community. We are grateful for the donation opportunity from the SOS Village and all of the children who ate our treats.
The cupcakes as pictured below were done in an array of colors and decorations. The creativity flowed in care and compassion for our neighbors. This type of compassion is what keeps Vheneka running. All of our ingredients were donated and some of these donors even chipped in their time to help decorate. The cupcakes and meringues are a testament to our program’s success and growth. In a month, the women have learned knife skills, stir-fry, eggs and made time to master some baking for this day. Our donated kitchen is almost complete, the office is coming together, and we are working with unstoppable haste.
Though this is our inaugural class of students, we are inspired deeply. As the students departed and we delivered sweets, the staff was also beaming. Mandela Day was a success and we cannot wait for the next one. Thank you again to all who have supported us and helped us on this day. If you feel led to support us, donate or contact us at info@vheneka.org. We are still trying to grow our kitchen inventory, library, and sanitary product supply. Support is always needed and appreciated.
Happy Mandela Day to all!
“And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”- Nelson Mandela
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