Gulfside Assembly Celebrates Centennial by Giving Back

5/4/2023

15 Minutes Photo Gallery

Gulfside Assembly of Waveland celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. As part of their Centennial Celebration, they organized a free food giveaway for the local community with the help of organizations such as Feeding the Gulf Coast, the Boys & Girls Clubs, and St. Stanislaus, and several sponsors. As you can see from these photos, the event was a tremendous success. Their hard work and generosity was greatly appreciated by those in need.

- Photos by Melanie Cole

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Bishop Leontine T Kelly was only the second woman elevated to the position of bishop within the United Methodist Church, and the first African American woman. The open air pavilion on the Gulfside Assembly site is named after her.

Left, Rev. Dr. Elijah Stansell, president of the Gulfside Assembly board. Middle, visiting from New Orleans was Mrs Florence C. Jeff, whose father was a Methodist minister for over 50 years, and who'd held many workshops at Gulfside Assembly over the decades. Right, executive director of the board, Cheryl Thompson.

Evelyn Wells has been a longtime participant and volunteer supporting Gulfside over the decades.

Left, Krystal Warning, broker manager of AETNA Medicare Solutions. Right, Lana Martin, child nutrition program manager at Feeding the Gulf Coast in Gulfport, MS, who organized the food for the day's distribution. Feeding the Gulf Coast serves the lower eight counties of Mississippi with multiple community programs. There were many sponsors and volunteers of the community event: AETNA; Ochsner Hospitals; students from St. Stanislaus and other local schools; Boys and Girls Clubs of Hancock County; many members from other churches; and many family members and friends.

The tomb of Bishop Robert E Jones, the first African American bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the founder of Gulfside Assembly. A neighbor close to the site, Donna Lucas, places fresh flowers regularly on the graves there.

The Boys and Girls Club of Hancock Co.

Bags of vegetables, trays of chicken, and watermelons were some of the foods distributed to the long line of vehicles that came out.

Krystal Warning and Kelly Corbin of AETNA, and Lana Martin of Feed the Gulf Coast, having a fun moment with Lana's mother.

All food was organized by Feed the Gulf Coast in Gulfport, MS. Cheryl Thompson, executive director of the board of Gulfside Assembly, told me about the community garden that Gulfside has started next to their offices in Waveland. The 4H Club and St. Stanislaus students built sheds and raised beds, along with help from Mississippi Rising and Boys and Girls Club of Hancock Co. The beds are assigned to the various groups, who will do their own maintenance.

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