Meet Me at the Court is continuing preparations for the upcoming Sharion Bailey Whitlock Proclamation and Birthday Celebration Weekend.
While issuing a reminder about the community Easter event, Veronica Bailey, founder and CEO of MMC, announced that the group has made some changes to the lineup of activities.
The bulk of activities for the 10th annual SBWPBCW is set for March 29 - 31.
MMC will kick off the event Friday with an Easter basket giveaway.
Volunteers will head out at approximately 5:15 p.m. to distribute Easter baskets to children in the community.
"There's no certain area. We're just going to ride around and hand them out wherever we see kids," Bailey previously said. "We'll just stop and give them out."
The deliveries will continue at noon on Saturday.
The giveaway was to have ended the same day but due to the response MMC has received since announcing the 2024 SBWPBCW several weeks ago, Bailey said another round of Easter basket deliveries has been scheduled for Easter Sunday, March 31.
"When people read about it in the (Feb. 27 edition of the News-Times), I began receiving calls from people checking to see how they can help," Bailey said.
Bailey said she received multiple offers from people who wanted to donate Easter baskets, adding that some of the offers came from people who said they did not receive Easter baskets as children.
"One person told me that they had seven siblings growing up and their mother couldn't afford Easter baskets, but each of them would get a plastic egg with a piece of candy in it," Bailey shared.
By March 19, Bailey said MMC had well over 100 Easter baskets that were ready for distribution.
The group has since stocked more.
While purchasing a set of Easter baskets in a local store, Bailey said a shopper who was checking out nearby noticed the large amount of Easter baskets MMC volunteers were purchasing.
"He approached us and asked what we were going to do with them and I told him who we were and what we were doing," she said. "He told me he was a truck driver and he wanted to help. He told me to meet him at (the store later) and he would donate some Easter baskets."
Bailey said "generous" cash donations have also been pouring in to assist with the effort.
"Meet Me at the Court is very thankful and grateful and we are humbled by the outpouring of love for Easter basket donations and financial donations," she said. "Every Easter is special, but it seems like this one has hit so many different areas."
MMC handed out 173 Easter baskets during SBWPBCW 2023 and the group hopes to provide more of the holiday novelties to children this year.
Bailey stressed that the baskets are free and will be distributed to children in El Dorado and Union County.
She also reiterated that MMC volunteers will hand out Easter baskets to children they see while driving around El Dorado and Union County.
Bailey said she has heard from area residents inquiring about how their children or grandchildren can receive an Easter basket.
"They've tried to give me their personal information, like their income and address, but we don't need any of that. The baskets are free and we are just going to share with children and help them have a happy Easter," Bailey said.
Thanks to another donation, some children will also receive dolls during the Easter basket giveaway on March 31.
Bailey said the mother of a longtime MMC member donated the dolls, which are similar to the popular Baby Alive dolls.
MMC will also distribute soul food dinner plates throughout the community on Easter Sunday. Deliveries will begin at 2 p.m.
The plates are also free and will come with cabbage, candied yams, macaroni and cheese, Hot Water Cornbread, fried or smoked chicken, dessert and a beverage.
Like most MMC events, the SBWPBCW will be held in honor of Bailey's late sister, Whitlock, who passed away following an illness in 2012, just two months shy of her 52nd birthday on April 3.
To commemorate Whitlock's birthday and as a continuation of the SBWPBCW, Bailey said MMC youth members will conduct two mission projects on April 3.
The group plans to donate at least 200 canned goods to the Salvation Army of El Dorado's food pantry.
Bailey said the canned-good delivery is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and another round of soul-food plate deliveries will immediately follow.
She explained that the free soul food meals will be distributed throughout the community as a follow-up to a similar community-service project MMC youth undertook on Jan. 15 to commemorate the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
Then, MMC members braved sub-freezing temperatures, ice, sleet and snow to deliver hot meals to local residents.
Volunteers used ATVs and large trucks to help clear paths for MMC members to distribute the soul food plates.
"And we will serve until all plates are gone. We'll just go through the community and we will go into Union County -- again, no certain area," Bailey said. "We will do that to celebrate my sister's memory, too."
For more information about MMC, call Bailey at 870-310-0391.