Holiday shoppers are invited to Southport Presbyterian Church Sat., Nov. 16, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. for the “Amani More Than Beads” Holiday Fair, which supports the Amani Children’s Foundation, a world-wide mission project serving children orphaned by AIDS and poverty in Africa. In addition to Amani bead jewelry, the fair will include nativities, baskets, scarfs, carved soapstone, animal art, woven art and other treasures. The church is located at 1025 East Moore Street in Southport.

The Amani organization works with churches and friends to host a wide array of artistic, nontraditional fundraising events to benefit The Amani Children’s Foundation. The foundation partners with Kenya’s Kazuri Beads partners, which provide seconds and discontinued beads for volunteer artists to make jewelry to sell on behalf of Amani.

Amani supports New Life Homes in Kenya, which has rescued more than 1,600 infants since 1993, most of whom have been adopted by Kenyan families. There are now four New Life Homes for babies across the country in Nairobi, Nakuru, Kisumu, and Nyeri. There are also family homes in Nairobi and Nakuru. The homes have strict financial accountability and are highly respected in Kenya for their high standards of care and loving environments.

Because Amani is a volunteer-run organization with low overhead covered by donations and the Amani Arts program, 100 percent of donations and Amani Arts program sales go to Kenya. The organization says it is committed to connecting people in the US to the hope that is stirring in Africa and to letting them know that a real difference can be made in this crisis. For more information about Amani in the US, go to amanichildren.org or info@amanichildren.org. For more information about Southport Presbyterian’s Amani Holiday Fair, call 910-457-6811.