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Lowndes County residents are invited to The Gathering, a New Year’s Day brunch organizers hope will bring the community together in unity and love.

The event will begin at noon in the Jackson Steele Community Center and feature a buffet brunch, vendors, and door prizes.

“I wanted to bring Lowndes County together on New Year’s Day,” said organizer Neamon Rudolph. “My whole inspiration was to bring families together on the first day of the year, just to be under the same roof and be able to socialize. I wanted to get communities, like Calhoun and Fort Deposit, together with families to have a good event on New Year’s Day.”

Looking for someone to help with the event, Rudolph approached Lowndes County Sheriff Chris West, who agreed to assist with planning and promotion.

“We want to bring everyone in Lowndes County together, under one roof, to fellowship and share our love for each other,” West said. “We’ve been talking about it for a couple of years. We want to grow the effort and hopefully get more people involved as each year passes.”

West said organizers know some residents will have family visiting for the holidays. They hope residents will choose to purchase tickets and bring extended family out to the event.

“There will be plenty of food,” West said. “[Residents] will get the chance to see people they may not have seen in several months or years. It’s kind of like a family reunion.”

Rudolph expects at least 100 guests at the breakfast. Four area pastors will offer prayers for forgiveness and peace and several elected officials are committed to attend.

“We’ve been so divided and COVD-19 hasn’t helped with the division in families, friends, and the community,” Rudolph said. “Now that COVID lower than it was and people are coming together, I thought it would be great to start off the new year with togetherness for communities.

“We have so much violence going on here. We’ve had some killings in the last couple of years. Lowndes County families are really separated. They’re not in unity and love. I wanted to make this a big family gathering for the whole community because I believe in love and the power of prayer.”

West said the event has gained support from local vendors who donated food and other items.

“So far we’ve had pretty good support,” West said.

Tickets for the breakfast may be purchased at eventcreate.com/e/thegathering45 or by calling (334) 777-9929. Adult tickets are $20 and children’s tickets are $10. Children 5 and under eat for free.