‘Be The Light’ event takes place tonight

Tonight will be a celebration of the true meaning of Christmas at Fire Station Park for the Starkville community.

For the past three Wednesdays of this month, a group of non-affiliated volunteers have been teaching children around the community about the reason and true meaning of the Christmas season in a three-part event called “Love Is Born Nativity Experience” that teaches children the story of the birth of Jesus Christ.

That same group of volunteers will host a celebratory night of fellowship tonight called “Be The Light,” which will have singing, fellowship, and food trucks from 5:30-7 p.m.

Anna Chaney is the member of the volunteer group who is over tonight’s “Be The Light,” and she briefly explained the meaning of tonight’s event and gave a preview of what to expect.

“Being a light is all about how the people of Starkville can be a light in their community,” Chaney said. “We’re kind of bringing that together through fellowship, singing, and a partnership with all of the local non-profit organizations that are interested. We’re going to have singing, some prayer, and some food trucks. Also, the kids have been learning a song for the past few weeks and they will open up the event with that, so it should be a real fun time.”

It will be a free family event for parents to take their children out and enjoy the singing, the fellowships and the food trucks.

For Chaney and the rest of the volunteer group, tonight’s event is about more than the fellowship and singing.

“Jesus came to Earth to die for our sins,” Chaney said. “He is the gift of Christmas, and he is the light in the darkness, so, we just want everyone, whether you believe in that or not, to come and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas with us or just come and see how you can be a light in the community.”

Although the event is a fun time of fellowship for families and to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, it’s also an invitation to support any of the nonprofit organizations that will be present.

“Another layer of that is for you to come out and see how you can be a light in the community by seeing what the needs are for all of the non-profit orga

nizations that will be there,” Chaney said. “For example, one of our non-profits that we are focusing on is Starkville Pregnancy Care Center, and they have a need to take care of the mothers, so their need is prenatal vitamins and diaper bags. They have trainings, they have parenting classes, and they do baby showers, so we’re just trying to highlight how you can be a light in the community during a dark time, and it’s a dark time for everybody right now.

“So, whether you’re into the fellowship and worship, or not, that’s fine. I just encourage people to come and see how they can be a light in the community.”

Chaney also stated that the event will be a socially distanced event with masks being worn to ensure everyone’s safety.