As of July, the Petal Children’s Task Force has distributed 562 food boxes to needy families in the area, including those that go to the 28 new families and 21 homeless individuals who signed up for the organization’s assistance this year alone.
To bolster those efforts, Mayor Tony Ducker recently held his inaugural Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast on August 18 at Petal Civic Center – his first since being elected in 2021 and taking office in January 2022 – with special guest Gov. Tate Reeves. The event was hosted by the task force, and all proceeds from the tables sold at the occasion will benefit that organization in its efforts to help provide food, hygiene products and other assistance to families in the community.
“For (this) year, on our figures, we’ve done 3,759 boxes as of the end of July,” said Demaris Lee, executive director of the Petal Children’s Task Force. “One hundred and eighty-eight new people, 5,570 extras (such as bread, eggs, fruits and vegetables), they can come in once a week and get that.
“We get produce from Walmart and Christian Services, and we do thank them because they always support us. We’ve done 175,226 pounds of food this year, and that was at the end of July. The turnout for (the prayer breakfast) was really good, and we’ll do it again next year. Without sponsorships, we would have went in the hole, really.”
The Petal Children’s Task Force was formed in December 1989 by Lee and her friend Jessie Rowell, with the goal of helping a needy family with Christmas presents and food. After witnessing families and children living in less than desirable circumstances, Lee and Rowell tried to meet their needs from their own pockets, but in 1990 fortunately received their first donation in the form of $500 from the Petal Area Chamber of Commerce.
That donation was soon followed by several others, and after speaking with local clubs and companies, the task force grew into a full-time organization.
The task force operates at 314 South George Street in Petal, in the Lighthouse Mission building provided by Asbury Methodist Church.
“I was casually mentioning (a prayer breakfast) to Demaris, and here we go,” Ducker said before initiating a prayer. “Thank you for being a part of that; you’re supporting a great cause. I don’t think it’s ever a wrong time to take a moment and acknowledge God.
“There’s a lost and dying world out there, so when you get in a position where you’re in the public eye, you have to decide at some point what you’re leaving your house with and what you’re going to take with you. If you have a prayer, I would suggest that you ask God to give you opportunities, because there’s some places you can’t mention certain things.”
Reeves, who was elected in 2019 as Mississippi’s 65th governor, initiated another prayer – along with those given by Ducker and pastor Brad Eubank of Petal First Baptist Church – touted the state’s responses to challenges such as the tornadoes that struck the area in 2013 and 2017, as well as to the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the area in March 2020.
“If anyone in this room understands the power of prayer, it’s me, because I’ve lived it,” the governor said. “I know during those first challenging months, as would travel around the state – whether it was to the site of a tornado or some other event – what I often heard from people was ‘we’ve been praying for you.’
“There’s really not many words in the English language that are more powerful for a leader, than to hear from those he is leading that ‘hey, we’ve been praying for you.’ I still hear it as I’m traveling around, and it still means the world to me to hear that. Prayer is the uniting factor that brings Mississippians of every background, of every race of every religion, of every origin – it’s what brings us together.”
