By Scottie Brown

The Selma Times-Journal

 

The Edmundite Missions in Selma has served the community for more than eight decades. This summer, the group plans to continue to give back with the May Festival and cookout May 30 from noon to 3 p.m.

This year’s cookout and May Festival will be held at the Center of Hope located at 1107 Griffin Ave.

Chad McEachern, the mission director for the Selma Edmundite Missions, said he wants the community to be able to come together, even if it is just for a few hours.

“We wanted to do something that would help build the community, and we thought this would be a fun way to kick off summer,” McEachern said. “It’s a little bit of an escape for the afternoon, so we’re just coming together and enjoying each other’s company, and we can put all of our worries away for a couple of hours.”

The cookout will have plenty of things for both children and adults to do. There will be a bounce house, DJ, beanbag toss, face painting and free food and drinks.

But while it may seem like a carefree afternoon, McEchern said the event is there to remind everyone of something else they may have forgotten.

“We are all in this all together,” McEchern said. “We might all have different backgrounds, different troubles or tribulations and challenges in life, but we’re in it together. We have a wonderful support system in the missions, and we’re proud to be of service.”

In Selma, the Edmundite Missions sponsor the BOSCO Nutritional Center, which serves meals twice daily, as well as the St. Edmund’s Learning Center, which offers enrichment programs for students ages 6 to 14. The Missions opened their Center of Hope, which houses the BOSCO Nutritional Center, in 2010.

McEchern invites all to attend the event saying it’s a time to put your worries aside.

“Hopefully folks will have a nice time and enjoy themselves and put away their cares for a few hours.”

For more information on the event contact McEchern at 872-2359.