Vicksburg’s Ward 1 Alderman TJ Mayfield will tell you quickly that, as a former teacher, one of his main focuses since taking office in 2024 has been the children of the River City. And this spring break, he honed that focus on finding ways to keep students fed and well-read over the weeklong break from school with the inaugural Spring Break Read and Feed event.

“It’s been better than anticipated,” Mayfield said of the event’s first installment. “After today, in total, we will have fed close to 1,000 kids in the community over the course of a week.”

Mayfield said the rationale behind the Read and Feed event was to combat a number of local problems with one program.

“We provided the books for them (to read this week), so hopefully that will incentivize them to enhance their literacy skills while school is out,” he said. “We know state tests are coming up, and if you look at education, a kid out of school for a week that does nothing, they lose some of the progress that they’ve made during the school year.”

But Mayfield said the program is also about making sure no child goes hungry over the five days he or she will be going without meals normally provided at school.

“We have a lot of poverty here in Vicksburg,” Mayfield said. “And some of our young people get bored and they’re hungry and they’re looking for things to do. I think we can feed a kid and try to mentor them and incentivize them through something like this. Who knows what they’ll learn from this.”

Mayfield said the program also accomplishes a third goal by keeping kids with time on their hands off the streets, where trouble typically begins.

“That’s how crime starts,” he said. “A kid that is hungry and bored is a dangerous combination. This is how I’m looking to prevent crime. I don’t want to be reactive; I’m trying to be proactive in crime prevention.”

Mayfield said the tentative plan is to also implement a similar program over the summer of 2025, when the break from school is months rather than weeks. In the meantime, he said the first Read and Feed event was a resounding success.

“We’re just excited to be bringing something new,” he said.