Area church hosts “Single Parents Saturday” event

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Being a parent is hard. Being a single parent can be even harder.

Single parents in our area are getting a much-needed break.

Mt. Vernon Church hosted Single Parent Saturday, giving moms and dads a break and a boost.

Todd Stevens is the current pastor at Mt. Vernon Church in Columbus, and he’s no stranger to helping out around the community.

Over the years, he’s noticed a specific need among a certain demographic– single parents.

“Well I’m hoping that this will allow us to meet people right where they
are and show them God’s love in a practical way with no strings attached and give them the opportunity to then take the next step whatever that might be from wherever they are,” said Stevens.

Members of the church volunteered; they cleaned cars inside and out and used that opportunity to talk and mingle.

While the parents took a few minutes for themselves, their kids spent the time playing on the inflatables and hanging out with friends.

Evie Vidrine is a single parent and was surprised by the car treatment.

“I actually did not expect them to clean my van and car which they are actually doing right now, and they did that and it’s been really organized and really well done so I am impressed,” said Vidrine.

Stevens did a lot of research beforehand and found something interesting.

“So we did a demographic study of the area and found that Columbus has way more single parents than the national norm, so we came up with Single Parent Saturday,” said Stevens.

This is the first Single Parent Saturday, but Stevens said it won’t be the last.

“We are just always looking for opportunities to show God’s love in a practical way with no strings attached, so this seemed like a no-brainer and were thrilled with the response from the community,” said Stevens.