Inclusive
Annual Friendsgiving
​Friendsgiving Festival
Friendsgiving Festival is a two-part inclusive festival consisting of a Harvest Fest (9a-12p at the MAEX) and a Chili Cook Off (3p-6p at Singing Brakeman Park) taking place on Saturday, November 16th, 2024. This event aims to raise essential funds for both EmpowerKids Foundation and The SPOT, as we rely on external support rather than product sales. It is designed to support our organizations while becoming an annual highlight in our community. Our goal is to break barriers to attending downtown family outings for people of all abilities.
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The “Harvest Fest” portion will take place in the morning, from 9a-12p, on the lawn of the MAEX. The entire event is FREE, open to the public, family friendly and sensory friendly. It will open with an adaptive Color Walk for our friends with all skill types and equipment.
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We will have two start times for the Color Walk.
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The first group will start at 9am and be for our younger friends.
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The second group will take off at 930 and be for our teens and adults.
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To sign up your child up for the color walk click the link below. All pre-registered color walk participants will get a t-shirt and a medal at the end of the walk. If you want to sponsor an athlete follow directions below!
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Color Walk
Sign Up a Participant for the Color Walk:
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To sponsor an Athlete: $40.00 per athlete. Checks can be made to The Community Foundation of East MS with “Friendsgiving Color Walk” in memo!
P.O. Box 3977 Meridian, MS 39303.
To volunteer for Harvest Fest click the link below:
https://forms.gle/rxCN47fdycbnLSMUA
In addition to the Color Walk, we will offer food trucks, resource vendors, bounce house, lawn games, crafts, and sensory friendly live music.
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Chili Cook Off
The Chili Cook Off portion will take place at Singing Brakeman Park. It is a special ticketed event that will take place from 3-6pm. Each ticket includes unlimited samples and one vote per ticket for people’s choice. The team spirit award will be decided by a panel of secret judges. The teams in the Chili Cook Off will compete for two levels of cash prizes. We have Daniel Houze, Grayson Culpepper, and other local artists providing LIVE entertainment during the event.
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To purchase tickets click the link below:
communityfoundationeastmissis.betterworld.org/events/friends-giving-harvest-fest​
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To sign your team up for the chili cookoff click below:
https://forms.gle/hq6UD8ADFX88TM66A
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To volunteer for the Chili Cookoff click below:
https://forms.gle/rxCN47fdycbnLSMUA
Sponsorship Packages:
https://cfem.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/list/event?event_date_id=2321
While this portion of the event is not as entertaining for children, we plan on it being family and ability friendly. Wheelchair accessible parking and transportation will be provided for the entire event. Be on the lookout for our timed schedule and map for the event. All proceeds from the event go through our local Community Foundation East Mississippi and will be divided evenly to support the initiatives of EmpowerKids and The SPOT.
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Our FB page link is: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566541883124