Jackson Free Press logo

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.

Sweetness Fest organizers hope that only one thing gets bigger in the event’s fight against obesity: participation.

Seneca Wilson, director of the Jackson State University Recreation Complex at the Walter Payton Center, hopes 700 folks turn out for event’s 5K run and walk and more.

“That’s my goal,” he says. “… Hopefully, they’ll come, and even if they don’t run this year, maybe they can next year.”

The event, which is on April 1, tackles one of Mississippi’s leading health concerns, obesity, with community, camaraderie and activity.

“We’re trying to promote healthy lifestyles here,” by energizing JSU faculty, staff and the surrounding community to be more active, Wilson says.

Sweetness Fest includes a 5K run and walk at 8 a.m., Fun Run at 10 a.m., and the Sweetness Jam at the Walter Payton Center, which will have activities and live music from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The money raised at the event goes to scholarships for Camp Tiger Tails, which keeps kids active over the summer, and does educational programs for them.

“I would like the community and the JSU community to come together and just uplift the city and educate them on being healthy,” Wilson says. “I think we all need it.”

For more information, visit jsums.edu.

Sherry Lucas, a lifelong Mississippian, has been chronicling her home state’s creative folk and cultural landscape for decades. She grew up in Yazoo City, studied journalism at the University of Mississippi and was a longtime feature writer for daily newspapers in Jackson. Now a freelance writer, she continues to dig into the fertile fields of Mississippi arts and culture for stories to share.