Seedling’s Austin’s Fab Five Light up the Night!

Each year, Seedling’s Austin’s Fab Five Gala honors five local heroes who have significantly impacted the lives of youth in our community, while also raising funds to support Seedling’s school based mentorship program for children in Central Texas who are affected by parental incarceration. This year, Fab Five saw its highest attendance since the inaugural event, with 379 guests. Because of the generosity of individuals and businesses in the Austin community, Fab Five broke another record, bringing in more than $325,000. This year’s honorees included Blake Absher, Ana Cortez, ‘Chaka’ Mahone, Lisa Ivie Miller, and Dr. Rosalind Oliphant Jones.

This year’s event was chaired by Seedling board member Mark Beavers and his wife AZ. The program, emceed by KXAN News Chief Meteorologist David Yeomans, included an inventive Lone Star cuisine dinner with wine, honoree awards, a Seedling graduate’s moving testimonial, and concluded with an exciting live auction.

Proceeds from Fab Five support Seedling’s mentoring program, which provides mentors for children whose parents are serving a jail or prison sentence. Since 2006, Seedling has provided school-based mentoring for children impacted by parental incarceration. During the 2022-2023 school year, 502 kids were served by Seedling who attend more than 120 schools across 17 Independent and Charter districts. For information about Seedling’s impact in the lives of children in our community, visit www. seedlingmentors.org. danced. As he puts it, it took him outside of himself into a group piece that made a statement about the human condition. Everyone in this dance work created by Ballet Austin’s Artistic Director Stephen Mills is involved in the group scenes that transition from normal life to suffering to rebirth — even the dancer who portrays Naomi Warren, the woman whose story is the plot of the piece.