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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

Friends for A Cause will have a booth at the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life on April 29 at Lefleurs Park. The booth will be open from 5:00 p.m. until 12:00 a.m. It is a fun-filled overnight event designed to celebrate survivorship and raise money for research and programs for the Society.
Come by and register for some really neat prizes to be given away. Friends for a Cause will be giving away a children’s BMX bicycle, a karate package from Tommy and an Iron Cross in $5.00 raffles. Come by and meet some of the great people associated with Friends for A Cause! We will see you there!!!

Saturday, April 30, John Trent will be speaking at Pinelake. John is a nationally known inspirational speaker. The seminar is from 9 until 3. For more information and tickets, call 601-992-2630.

Friends of Hudspeth Center and Panino’s present an Italian Festival Fundraiser with entertainment provided by Meet the Press. Sunday, May 1 from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. $10 per adult, children get in free. Dancing, food, fun, face painting, moon walks, give away’s, silent auction, and tons of food! Panino’s is located in the Quarter on Lakeland Drive.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.