SOUTHAVEN, Miss — The Mississippi RiverKings will feature the works of Palmer Home for Children during the team’s November 18 game against the Tulsa Oilers.
Palmer Home’s mission is to reflect the hope and love of Christ by providing a stable, long-term, Christ-centered home to children growing up as social orphans. The Palmer Home family of homes, established in 1895, identified a need in DeSoto County and subsequently built a campus in Hernando in 2003.
“One thing that is really special about Palmer Home is our commitment to sibling groups,” Palmer Home’s Senior Vice-President of Development Jonathan Ahern said. “So many times when a child is taken from their parents because of abuse, neglect, or incarceration of the parent, that also means the child is separated from his brothers and sisters as well. We try to minimize that trauma by keeping them together in a loving, positive environment built on Christian principles.”
Palmer Home is entirely privately funded, and includes the original campus in Columbus, Miss., where 75 boys and girls from birth to college age live year round; the Hernando campus and the Mississippi Sheriffs’ Boys & Girls Ranches between Columbus and Starkville.
“We currently have almost 16 boys and girls in two cottages on the Hernando campus,” Ahern said. “When the campus is finished, it will have over 100 children being cared for in 12 cottages. We look forward to that.”
The Hernando campus will host a Holiday Open House and Thanksgiving Service on Sunday, Nov. 23 at 800 Baldwin Road in Lake Cormorant. Visitors can meet the residents and tour the cottages from 3-5 p.m. and enjoy the Thanksgiving Service in Hope Chapel at 5:30 p.m.
Donors can help in several interesting ways this holiday season. Palmer Home will kick off a RiverKings ticket fundraiser on Tuesday. Families can attend a RiverKings game and donate a large portion of their ticket cost back to Palmer Home.
Additionally, outside agencies are helping to provide for physical needs. Two such sponsors are the Mississippi Upper Cervical Clinic and Mid-South Chiropractic, which are hosting a joint food drive to fill up the Palmer Home pantry. For more information on the food drive, call 662-349-0980 or 662-890-0012 .
Contact the author at: Mitch.Cooper@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.