First Presbyterian Church of Aiken celebrated a monetary missionary milestone this month, with more than $200,000 having been raised through the sale of locally made necklaces to fight AIDS transmission in sub-Saharan Africa.
The congregation's March 22 activities included confirmation that the Formula for Life program, largely created and guided by 91-year-old missionary Catherine Vandegrift, has now brought in about $209,000 over the course of five years.
Income from the necklaces, $5 each, goes to provide formula for the children of HIV-positive mothers in the Zambian town of Mwandi, near the southern border, to help reduce the likelihood of the virus infecting the babies.
"It really just fell in my lap," said Vandegrift, pointing out that she has family connections and more than a decade of personal experience in Africa as a missionary, mostly in Congo, with smaller stretches in Kenya and Zambia. "Africa's always been on my mind."
One of the project's boosters noted that the HIV/AIDS rate is so high in some Zambian communities that it can be challenging to find an adult who is not infected.
Facing the challenge, Vandegrift is upbeat about having been able to make a difference.
"We've just done so well. ... The nurse we have in Zambia told us that she thought we had saved 500 babies, which is amazing."
With no vaccine in sight and cultural norms presenting a huge challenge, the calamity is "an ongoing-type thing," in Vandegrift's words. Referring to the necklace fundraiser, she said, "We're just going to keep it going for as long as we can."
Formula for Life will have creations for sale today at Cold Creek Nurseries, 398 Hitchcock Parkway, with a booth set up for an event from about 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Jim Kelley, a self-described "helper" with the project, offered some thoughts on Vandegrift's role.
"That lady is now 91 years old, and she's still the heart and soul and inspiration of this project."
He gave a pep talk to some of the project's boosters at Sunday's gathering, "and I said we can pat ourselves on the back for selling $200,000 in necklaces, but you know, we're not finished, because, worldwide, the number of people with HIV is still growing, and there is no vaccine for HIV on the horizon that's going to work," Kelley said.
First Presbyterian sends $18,000 per year to Mwandi for the purchase of infant formula, so the need is to sell at least $20,000 worth of necklaces each year, taking the profit margin into consideration. The charity has about $70,000 in the bank "ahead of what we need to send," Kelley said. "That would last about six years if we stopped our project."
Vandegrift described the First Presbyterian congregation as "incredible," in terms of its ongoing support for the necklace project, from actually making the necklaces to buying them and spreading the word around the U.S. and beyond.
"We're starting our sixth year," she said, noting that the congregation has nearly saturated Aiken with awareness of the project. "We are amazed that we're still going. I thought, to begin with, it would be a fad - maybe we'd get six good weeks out of it - and now we're going on six years. It's difficult to believe."
Bill Bengtson, a native of Florence, Alabama, has worked for Aiken Communications since 1996, providing pictures and stories for the Aiken Standard and The North Augusta Star.