Meet Me at the Court is wrapping up 2023 the same way it kicked off the year -- by giving back to the community.
The nonprofit organization will be juggling several holiday-themed community projects this week, starting with a busy day today.
First, MMC youth members will head to the Salvation Army of El Dorado at 4:30 p.m. to donate canned goods to the Salvation Army's food pantry.
The delivery is the latest in a series of donations that MMC youth members launched in late summer 2022 after the group heard that demand had grown for assistance programs for the Salvation Army due to rapid inflation and rising costs for groceries, utilities, rent, etc.
The Salvation Army had reported that it was struggling to keep pace with the growing needs of the community with its food pantry, prompting MMC youth to spring into action.
In mid-September 2022, the group reached out to the Salvation Army with an offer to donate to the pantry and a few days, later, MMC delivered 307 canned goods.
The youngsters then set a goal of donating 1,000 canned goods to the Salvation Army food pantry by the end of the year.
With the final delivery in December 2022, they met and exceeded that goal with a total of 1,225 canned goods, which included donations from local residents.
Contributions, some in bulk sizes, were left on the front porch of Veronica Bailey, MMC president and CEO, to deliver to the Salvation Army.
MMC youth members started 2023 with a similar goal and throughout the year, they have made a series of donations of canned goods and other non-perishable food items to the Salvation Army.
Bailey said the amount for the year has already exceeded 1,000 canned goods and the youth group plans to donate at least 200 more canned goods today as part of their monthly mission project.
She said the group should also receive an end-of-year tally following the delivery.
Angel Tree
From there, MMC will head out into the community to deliver gifts to the recipients of the 2023 Sharion Bailey Whitlock Angel Tree project.
Whitlock, Bailey's late sister, passed away in 2012 following an illness. She was 51 years old and had a reputation for helping others.
Whitlock inspired the formation of MMC in 2013. Many of the group's community-service activities, such as the Angel Tree project, are named in her honor.
Bailey said 181 submissions came in this year for the Angel Tree program and many of them included requests for groceries.
MMC will deliver Angel Tree gifts that include clothes, toys, bags of groceries, grocery-store gift cards and gift cards to a local sporting goods store for athletic apparel and footwear.
"We will also be paying utility bills," said Bailey.
Additionally, some Angel Tree gifts will be mailed out to recipients.
Secret Santa
MMC's second annual Secret Santa giveaway will also begin immediately after the canned food delivery to the Salvation Army
Over the course of several days, MMC members will randomly approach people in public spaces in El Dorado, identify themselves and offer them a gift.
Last year, MMC paid for groceries and gasoline, offered cash gifts, tipped servers at local restaurants and made donations to local churches around town.
Bailey clarified misconceptions about the Secret Santa giveaway.
"I've had several calls about Secret Santa, with people thinking they can call and tell us what they want and I have to explain that's not the way it works," Bailey said. "We just randomly pick where we want to stop and we bless people."
She said the 2023 giveaway will be similar to the inaugural event in 2022, with a couple of surprises.
"It's going to be several days. We can't do it in one day, not with what we want to do this year," Bailey said.
Christmas on the Court
When MMC started Sharion's Christmas on the Court holiday program several years ago, the group invited the community to gather on the basketball court in the area of Lester Street and Ouachita Avenue in the St. Louis neighborhood, where Bailey grew up.
The day would include food, games, music, singing, gifts, Santa and the Angel Tree project.
With the COVID-19 outbreak, MMC shifted the format of the event and decided to mail out Angel Tree gifts in 2020 and cancel the Christmas on the Court gathering.
The following year, MMC decided to adopt a neighborhood and take Christmas on the Court to other communities around the city.
This year, MMC has adopted the Fordville neighborhood for Christmas on the Court.
The event will begin at noon on Saturday at New Olive Branch Baptist Church, 1548 N. Roselawn, for Fordville residents only.
"It's for people who live in Fordville now. I've had people call and ask, 'What if I grew up in Fordville?' It's for the residents who live in Fordville now," Bailey emphasized.
MMC will distribute gifts, turkeys, hams, rotisserie chickens, fresh whole chickens, canned goods and fresh vegetables (turnip and collard greens, cabbage, onions, bell peppers and sweet potatoes) to attendees.
The canned goods will be distributed as part of MMC youths' monthly mission project.
Toys and bicycles will also be handed out to children and Santa will make an appearance to hand out gifts. Bailey noted the bicycles were donated to MMC.
If any of the items are left over, MMC will head to other neighborhoods in the city to distribute the excess items, said Bailey.
Bailey and the El Dorado chapter of the Sugar Town Riders Motorcycle Club thanked New Olive Branch for allowing the use to of the church for Christmas on the Court.
Bailey acknowledged late New Olive Branch pastor, the Rev. Eugene Farley, Sr., for agreeing to the request earlier this year.
Farley passed away last April and Bailey said her son, James Curley, had already talked to Farley about MMC's plans to adopt the Fordville neighborhood this year.
The Fordville community was settled in the early 20th century and is roughly bordered by Champagnolle Road, 19th Street, Mosby Avenue and Roselawn Avenue.
Bailey also thanked volunteers who are assisting with MMC holiday activities, including longtime volunteers (children and adults) and new ones who recently came aboard -- one of which is a woman who made a cash donation to MMC during the Sharion Bailey Whitlock Community Soul Food Dinner: Good Food for the Body and Soul, Part 2, on Dec. 9.
Bailey said the woman reached out to her and said she and her children would like to volunteer for the holiday activities.
"We're looking to have a great fellowship and for us all to get together for a good reason and that's to help others and I am just excited," she said.
For more information, call Bailey at 870-310-0391.