DEOVELENTE HERITAGE PERSERVATION SOCIETY

The Deovelente Heritage Preservation Society was organized February 17, 2008 and is incorporated as a 501 c (3) organization The organization felt the need to do outreach service in the Humphreys County Community and with the help from the Superintended of Education and other community members, we were able to secure an old vacant building on the elementary school campus to open a museum. This museum was the dream of two retired educators: Mr. Howard J. Austin an Mrs. Eula J. Davis and was given the name: Humphreys County Cultural Museum. Within the museum are rooms denoting a written and pictorial history of each community within the county as well as many artifacts and relic from the community dating as far back as the early 1800s. Humphreys County ranks 4th as the poorest state in Mississippi and our educational system have been taken over by the state for low academic performance, therefore our organization have sponsor outreach projects to assist low income students. Each year we award scholarships to graduating seniors. We donate school supplies each year doe needy students. During Black History Month all the students from the school visit the museum and write an essay on their visit comparing and contrasting the way of life in the pas and present. We sponsor a 9-11 Program in Memory of September 11, 2001 where we recognize first responders. We host a Veterans" Day Program each year for Veterans and their families where we purchase meals for all in attendance. We have adopted the Humphreys County Nursing Home where we supply needed items to all residents each year during Christmas. We have adopted a two-mile section of the highway that runs through Belzoni to help keep it free of litter. Our future plans include purchasing a building in down town Belzoni to relocate the museum. There are many vacant buildings downtown where businesses no longer exist. Relocating will give us a chance to serve more people and will boost the economy for our town.. Currently we have many visitors that visit the museum from out of town. and being located on a school campus hinder us from scheduling tours during school hours. Other plans include providing after school educational and recreational activities for our children. Our baseball parks are run down and are not open where our children can have a place to play during the summer. Our plans are to generate enough funds through grants and donations to reopen our parks. For after school educational program, we hope to offer tutorial classes to help to increase the reading and math scores in our school district. Most of our students are performing below grade level, We need funds to fulfill these goals.