Yalander Everett is committed to volunteering.
“Any volunteering, when it comes to helping people, I’m that person, no matter what it is,” the 43-year-old Leflore County resident said.
One of her most recent efforts was when she was one of many who took the call-to-action to provide relief to residents who were affected by last month’s flash flooding.
Everett, a volunteer for Greenwood mayoral candidate Kendrick Cox’s campaign team, recalled that she and others on the team wanted to clear their heads on June 9, the day after the municipal election in which Cox lost.
Instead of a day of rest, however, the flood hit.
Everett said she and others sprang into action, forming a patchwork of community-oriented solutions to assist those in need.
Everett helped authorities fill sandbags and place them at residents’ homes as well as helped residents evacuate their homes when water had seeped inside.
“We picked them up, brought them out, and if they needed hotels, we had people that gave donations” to assist with the cost of their rooms, she said.
She recalled that two men each donated $500. One of the men who donated had experienced Hurricane Katrina while in New Orleans. The money donated went toward purchasing food, cleaning supplies and hotel stays for those displaced by the flood.
“With the outpouring of support from everyday people, it was just awesome how people just came together,” she said.
Everett even volunteered her time at the basement of the Leflore County Courthouse, where the county’s emergency management agency is headquartered. She took calls from residents and jotted down their information to have their homes assessed for damage by county authorities.
Originally from Moorhead, Everett moved to Greenwood in 2000 when she started working as an insurance agent.
Two decades later, Everett still lives in the Greenwood area. She currently resides in the Browning community, where she enjoys the atmosphere.
“I’ve met a lot of good friends; I’ve met a lot of people,” she said.
Everett provides contract work for two different private security companies and previously served as the director of the Greenwood Community Center.
She is a member of Providence Missionary Baptist Church and a member of the Itta Bena chapter of Zeta Amicae Sorority Inc., through which she also does volunteer work. She also volunteers for the Greenwood Bullpups peewee football team.
Outside of volunteering, Everett is an avid photographer, preferring to take candid, rather than posed, shots.
“I like to catch people off guard. They hate it, but I love it,” she said.
Everett has four children ranging in age from 28 to 11 and also has one granddaughter.
- Contact Gerard Edic at 581-7239 or gedic@gwcommonwealth.com.
