CHARLOTTE – The 32nd annual fundraising banquet for MiraVia welcomed more than 1,400 people to witness God’s light lived out through the mothers and children the nonprofit serves every day.
The event themed “Where Love Gives Life,” told a story of love that started for many mothers at MiraVia’s maternity home situated on the campus of Belmont Abbey.
This is the place where more than 600 pregnant women since 1994 have found refuge, hope and a home during a time of uncertainty.
Kingsley Murray, one such mother, shared her testimony as an intrepid college student in another state and the fear she felt when she found out she was pregnant.
Then, she learned about MiraVia’s college residence program – and moved across the country after she was accepted to the program. She moved into maternity home and enrolled at Belmont Abbey College, where she continued her education and was able to give birth to her son.
Kingsley’s pregnancy did not keep her from the Dean's List. She could be a mother and a student.
She heard her baby say his first word in his crib at MiraVia.
“Light,” the boy said.
Murray recently graduated from Chapel Hill and is now pursuing a career as a journalist with son – her light – at her side.
MiraVia’s Executive Director Debbie Capen had many more stories that spread smiles.
MiraVia housed 14 pregnant college students this year. The program assisted women from all over the country – some of whom, like Kingsley, transferred to Belmont Abbey College, while others moved into the residence and continued their education virtually at another college. The program provides housing, books, material goods, meals and spiritual, educational and parental support.
In addition, MiraVia’s outreach center distributed 96,000 diapers and 34,600 clothing items, serving 1,790 pregnant women and mothers. Capen thanked their many volunteers who put in more than 2,000 service hours over the year, and donors for their generous support.
Bishop Michael Martin, who opened the fundraiser with an invocation, encouraged the audience, as MiraVia so eloquently demonstrates, to step out in faith through discipleship, even when the circumstances seem dire.
“While we commit ourselves to do everything we can to support the mission of MiraVia, we also have to commit ourselves to go out into the world and to bring the Good News to a world that doesn’t know how incredibly gifted we are to be co-creators with the Almighty,” he said. “That is our mission. That is the Good News we are meant to share.”
Keynote speaker Sister Cora Caeli, of the Sisters of Life, shared lessons she learned coming from an order with a charism for protecting and enhancing the sacredness of human life.
“We all long for a place to call home,” Sister Caeli said. For many, MiraVia is that home.
She went on to explain that life is messy but that we should take heart because the “battle belongs to God.”
“With God everything is a gift,” she said, repeating the theme for the night. “Love gives life… Allow Him to reign even when things don’t make sense.”
— Lisa M. Geraci