The 2nd Annual Each One Reach One Leadership Celebration event in Brundidge Saturday attracted a large gathering, not only from Brundidge, but also from as far away as the Florida Panhandle.

Each One Reach One is sponsored by the S.D. James Evangelistic Association and its mission is to make the Brundidge extended community a better place to live, work and play together, said event coordinator Karen Rouse.

“We can do that by each one reaching one,” Rouse said. “The world today is not like it was 20 years ago or even 10 years ago. Back then, everybody was family. They cared for each other and looked after each other. The message of Each One Reach One is that our community can be that way again if we will reach out to others.”

Rouse said the mission of Each One Reach One Leadership Celebration is to encourage people to be aware of the circumstances and needs of their neighbors.

“Too often we read about or hear about an elderly person that died and it was three days or more before anyone found them,” she said. “That would not happen if we showed concern for our neighbors the way we should.”

Each One Reach One is a call to commitment for churches, clubs, organizations and individuals to be community minded through prayer and community involved through action.

The Rev. Ernest Lindsey of Andalusia said that Southerners are known for their hospitality and their innate ability to “reach out and touch someone.”

Linsdey said he recently traveled by plane from Atlanta to Los Angeles. At the airport in Atlanta he experienced the hospitality of the South. When he reached the West Coast, that hospitality was nowhere to be found.

“We are Southerners,” he said. “We speak to each other. We wave to strangers. We care for each other and look after each other. We raise other people’s children. We take off our hats when a funeral procession passes. We salute the flag in respect to that red stripe that represents the blood shed by our neighbors. We need to hold on to that tradition of caring because we are Southerners.”

Pike County Sheriff Russell Thomas and Brundidge Police Chief Moses Davenport were the featured speakers at the Each One Reach One event.

Thomas echoed Lindsey’s message and said that he lives in a community of good, compassionate people.

Thomas said there is much adversity in today’s world and too much persecution.

“We have good kids in Pike County but sometimes they make mistakes and need to be picked up,” he said. “Their lives should not be controlled by their mistakes. Mistakes should not set the course of their destiny.

“The Lord wants us to raise our kids to be kind. He wants us to be respectful of others and to do the right thing.”

Thomas said he has been blessed to be in a position of leadership and to have an opportunity to make a positive difference in his community. Davenport told his “story” of how he survived a rare lung disease and how God revealed Himself to him. “God intervened in my life,” Davenport said. “I know it was God’s purpose for me to come back to work in Brundidge and to be a part of good things in my community. God in not just good and great. He is indescribable.”

The Each One Reach One event began with a parade in downtown Brundidge and concluded with a birthday celebration for Bishop S.D. James at Pike County Elementary School in the afternoon.