The Buggy Bunch featured Dr. Ben Carson as its keynote speaker at their annual fundraising dinner. Carson spoke about the cultural challenges facing the American family and emphasized the importance of strong family values.
With a record-breaking attendance of some 500 guests, the dinner, held this year at the Corporate Air Hangar, was the nonprofit’s largest fundraising event to date, and included a silent auction, cocktail reception, and dinner by Wild Thyme Catering.
“The word embolden means to fill with courage or strength of purpose, to foster boldness and to make someone courageous. A similar word is encouraged. While encouragement provides emotional support and motivation. Emboldening goes one step further in its lines of action,” said Sue Dean, board chair.
“That’s exactly what takes place every day, both inside and outside the walls of the Buggy Bunch Family Center, where these incredible ladies whose jobs aren’t just jobs but they’re ministries. They meet the mamas in our community where they are, and they help them grow. They embolden them,” she continued.
After a video was shown with moving testimonies from mothers whose lives have been positively impacted, Tara Wright, executive director, presented an annual update, highlighting their efforts over the past year to support local mothers and families, while sharing their love of Jesus Christ.
“‘As the family goes, so goes the nation, and so goes the entire world in which we live.’ These words, spoken by John Paul II and shared by Candy Carson in the prologue of ‘The Perilous Fight’ [Dr. Ben Carson’s book], capture the heart of why we are here tonight,” said Wright.
“The strength of our families determines the strength of our community, our nation, and our world. And yet, as you will soon hear from Dr. Ben Carson, the American family is under attack.
Mothers are overwhelmed, fathers are absent, and too many children are growing up without the stability and support they need to thrive,” she said, adding that the Buggy Bunch “stands in the gap, ensuring that no mother in Indian River County has to walk this journey alone.”
Last year, she said, they served over 5,000 clients through their programs, such as educational playgroups, Bible studies, fitness classes, financial classes, marriage and single mom support, and provided 46,000 diapers to struggling families.
Through their newly launched Thriving Families program, she said the Buggy Bunch provides families with a safe space for court-ordered supervised visitation and monitored exchanges, to help families rebuild broken bonds.
Carson, founder and chairman of the American Cornerstone Institute, served as the 17th secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, was the director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center for almost 30 years, has authored numerous books, and has received countless honors and awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“When you think about the country that we live in, some of us take it for granted. But Candy and I have been to 68 countries and lived overseas. I can tell you categorically, there’s no place like the United States of America,” said Carson.
“The Buggy Bunch is emblematic of some of the things that make this a great country,” he added, commending them for the work they do.
“What makes it great are the communities, and what makes communities strong are the families. If you want to harm a country, you harm the communities, and you harm the families,” continued Carson.
“Together, we can ensure that as our families go, they go forward with strength, faith and love. Thank you for standing with us. And thank you for making a difference. One mother, one family, one life at a time,” said Wright.
For more information, visit thebuggybunch.com.
Photos by Joshua Kodis
