December 28, 2024, will be a memorable Saturday in Simpson County as a whole and the City of Mendenhall specifically as high gusty winds, torrential rain and a confirmed EF 1 tornado ripped through the night leaving scenes of devastation.
However, Sunday, December 29, 2024, will hold its fair share of memories as storm victims became heroes.
It became clear early that power would not be restored quickly in the town and surrounding area so rather than allowing food to spoil, community residents Janice Fletcher and Pastor Phillip Chatmon of Nazareth Missionary Baptist Church came together to create a plan to cook as much food as possible for the victims of the storm as well as power company linemen and first responders. In addition, food deliveries were made to those who could not get out of their homes or locations like Harper Village.
One of the newest businesses in town, Big Jim’s Meat Market, was open when the storm hit Saturday night, everyone piling into the bathroom to wait it out. Owner Josie Little saw the level of destruction when she helped one of her employees get home. She knew she would lose large quantities of beef with the power outage and began thinking, “Let’s just cook a bunch of burgers and feed everybody.”
Her staff, family and friends stepped up to volunteer. In all, over 350 burgers were served from Big Jim’s that Sunday to anyone who wanted one. Several volunteers delivered to linemen working to restore power and residents as far as Harrisville and Pinola. Little said, “The community came together and helped each other. We love our little town and we are glad we were able to help.”
Mendenhall Ward 3 Alderwoman Janna Miller, a member of Nazareth, was present Sunday helping Fletcher and Chatmon, also thinking there must be more that could be done. Miller reached out to her friend Sandrena Durr with the Rho Iota Zeta Sorority chapter for help, knowing their motto is “Service is What We Do.” That got the ball rolling to feed anyone in need again on Monday with the help of Supervisor Mitchell Chatman.
On Tuesday, several organizations put plans in place to feed the Mendenhall community a traditional New Year’s Day meal plus grilled chicken, burgers, and hot dogs. They began serving about 11:30 a.m. and wrapped up when three power trucks pulled up with hungry linemen about 6 p.m. Volunteers pulled the last of the leftovers together for them.
Sandrena Durr said, “We felt that families deserved a hot meal, especially with the lights being out since Saturday. Jana called me asking what could be done. I got on the phone and called around to see what we could make happen. We decided to come together and make sure that these families and our linemen who were working to get the lights back on had a hot meal. That’s what we were doing because as a community we need to help each other in times of need.”
Pastor Willie Hobbs of Nazareth M.B. Church said, “ I thank God we were able to come together and help our community in spite of the crisis. It could have been worse, but it takes all of us. I pray we continue to help one another.”
The last outreach occurred Thursday when a group came together at the 4-way stop in Mendenhall, again providing grilled chicken, burgers, hot dogs and sides, serving for about four hours. Anyone who wanted a plate was given one.
Miller said that she was so thankful to everyone who participated in this outreach whether by prayer, physical participation, or donations.
“Everybody’s heart was in the right place to serve Mendenhall. We put our personal values aside, came together and did what was Christ-like.” She added that at the end of the day through bonding new friendships were made with acquaintances becoming family.
In addition to Nazareth M.B. Church and Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc., Rho Iota Zeta Chapter Mendenhall, help also came from Mendenhall Ministries, Dr. Yolanda King, Hope Psychiatric Consultant, Mississippi Move and several individuals.
