King’s Empowerment Center is holding a flea market Saturday.
Victor Gilliam, facility manager said this will be the first time the center has held a flea market, but he wants it to happen every year from now on.
The center sponsors many youth events such as after school tutorials, summer enrichment program, and intermural sports.
Gilliam said so far they have 16 vendors.
He said they would be selling a variety of items such as door wreaths, embroidered items, and some baked goods.
“We have a couple of food vendors coming,” he said.
Gilliam said they are preparing for around 400 to 500 people to show up at the flea market.
The center serves the community in a variety of ways. They have many community programs, various support programs and they were the headquarters for FEMA during the flood in Vicksburg in 2011.
“We do a lot of activities for the kids. We host the feeding programs during the summer,” he said.
They serve dinner during the summer for six to seven weeks and it is available for any child age 18 and younger.
Gilliam said they are working towards getting the after school program started up next month.
Currently, the center operates mainly off of grants, donations and fundraisers.
“We hope to continue doing what we’re doing and improve it,” he said.
He said they are trying to partner with the Boys & Girls Club. They were partnered in the past but when funds ran out, they could not continue.
The main sport offered is intermural basketball.
It is offered from January to April to any youth in grades six through 12.
“I have five teams,” he said.
He said a lot of churches come in and help mentor the children and offer counseling.
Gilliam said the teams travel a lot for tournaments.
In 2009, his teams won first place and in 2013, they won second place in tournament play.
He said the amount of tournaments they have varies, but they always have one in April when the season ends.