We are so proud to announce the addition of Marc Bell to our Board of Directors. Marc is a kindergarten teacher for Mustang Public Schools who has a vast array of skills. He's an expert at editing video, restoring furniture and playing softball. You can read his full bio here. He also has a love for children. We are so honored that he has joined us in our work to help better the lives of South Africa children through improved access to health, education and athletics.

Our response to the IRS questions arrived in Ohio today! Now we're just waiting to hear back. We'll be sure to let everyone know when we hear from the IRS this time around. Fingers crossed there will be a reason to celebrate!

It's another exciting day for us as we mail off our response to the IRS about our 501(c)3 status! Hooray! Our reviewing agent mailed us some questions earlier this month, along with a note that our payment wasn't for the correct amount. So we wrote a new check, answered all his questions and dropped it in the mail. We hope to get a response in the coming weeks. We are so excited! Thank you for all our donors and supporters for cheering us on!

We heard some exciting news about the group that we helped last year. We received this word from Dawn Brochenin, the teacher and leader of the pack:

I am very pleased, proud and happy to tell you all that Sustainable Coffee Bay now has an NPO number.  We received it telephonically on Thursday and will receive the certificate in the post shortly. 

We are so happy for them! We can't wait for the day when we can say the same!

We have an opening on our board, and we're accepting applications. After nearly two years of helping Vilakazi, Chad Previch has stepped down to have more personal time. We appreciate all the work he did for us, and he will be missed! 

The board application process is simple. All you have to do is fill out the application form and submit it with your resume to [email protected]. You can download the application right there on your right. ------------->

The deadline is 5 p.m. Friday, May 27. If you have any questions, just email Leigh.

If you have applied before, your application will be considered with the new ones. If you'd like to send an updated resume, that's fine, too.

To share a little bit about our board ... We are a working board. There are no financial requirements to serve, but we enjoy 100 percent board participation. What we need the most from our board members is a willingness to help furthur the Vilakazi cause of helping South African children.

We're excited to have a new volunteer join our board!

Our 501(c)3 paperwork has arrived at its destination in Covington, Kentucky! Hooray! Thank you, U.S. Postal Service tracking for the good news. Now that our request is in the hands of the Internal Revenue Service, we just have to wait for word. Thanks for everyone's support throughout this process. We are very excited!

It's an exciting time for Vilakazi! We have mailed off our 501(c)3 paperwork to the IRS, so we are now just playing the waiting game. We are officially "status pending" now! We can't wait to hear back and continue our work. Hooray!

Today we had our last meeting with our attorney before we mail our 501(c)3 request to the IRS! It was so exciting meeting with Marcus Bivines to hash out the final details. He has been very helpful to us throughout this process, and we're ready to get our paperwork in the mail. We can't wait!

It has been a busy month for Vilakazi! We are back in the saddle now that the holidays are over. Here's what's been going on with us:

* Our Playground Throwdown Rock-Paper-Scissors Tournament raised more than $1,100! Thank you to everybody who came out, and congratulations to our winner, Kelli Dupuy! You can see photos from the event by clicking here.

* Our board has outlined our events throughout the spring. We've sent tentative dates for all our big activities. Our annual Wine for Wickets wine tasting will be later this year. An interest session for those who want to know more about going with us to South Africa in 2012 will be April 18. And our big garage sale will be May 20-21. We hope you can join us for all that's going on this spring!

* We are in the midst of filing our 501(c)3 paperwork, which is really exciting for our group! We're grassroots and completely supported by donations. We are hoping that our paperwork will be sent off to the IRS in the next week or two, and we're hoping to hear back from them this spring.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone for being so supportive of us! These efforts will mean children half a world away will have better lives.

We have had a busy week! Lauren Dennison, one of our Vilakazi board members, appeared on two different television morning shows this weekend. She was fantastic! Click here to watch her on the KAUT-43 show Friday morning. We'll post the News 9 info as so as we can.

We hope all of this will help get the word out about our Playground Throw Down rock-paper-scissors tournament. It's only two days away! Click here for more info!