BEP to host Juneteenth celebration

The Butterfly Effect Project will host “Juneteenth: A Celebration of Community” in partnership with the First Baptist Church of Riverhead on Wednesday, June 19, from 12 noon to 3 p.m. at 1018 Northville Turnpike in Riverhead. 

The event aims to honor the history and origins of the holiday with a day dedicated to fellowship and generosity.

This event is for community members, completely free, and will feature 25 vendors offering amazing entertainment, delicious food of all types, cool products and superior services at no charge. 

We have invited organizations, businesses and individuals to collaborate by providing community members with the opportunity to experience their unique gifts, be it entertainment, food, customized products, or services free of charge. The intention is to give back and share what we have with one another. 

The entire community is invited to join BEP for this celebration of community and freedom.

BEP is seeking donations of the following items for the celebration: 

• 2 pans of baked mac & cheese
• 2 platters of 24 piece Stop & Shop fried chicken
• 3 pans of green beans
• 6 whole watermelons
• 5 lbs. of strawberries
• 4 10-lb. bags of ice
• 300 8-oz. plastic cups
• fresh produce
• water
• paper plates
• napkins

If you are able to provide any of the listed items, please email BEP or call the office at 631-591-0759 to indicate what you’ll be donating, and to arrange drop off. Thank you so much for your companionship and generosity!

If you own or are part of a business, organization, or group that would like to participate as a collaborator, there’s still time to join us! The deadline to register as a collaborator is Tuesday, June 11. Don’t miss out on the fun, email BEP or call the office at 631-591-0759 today to take part in this beautiful community celebration.

A word about Juneteenth

Juneteenth or Freedom Day commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. While slavery was abolished by the issuing of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, it was not enforced until after the conclusion of the Civil War.

On June 19, 1865, U.S. Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger delivered to the people of Galveston, Texas, General Order No. 3, which read, in part: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor.” This day became known as Juneteenth and was designated as a national holiday in 2021.

The fact that it took three years for news of the Emancipation Proclamation to reach enslaved peoples in Texas, and that Juneteenth was not designated a national holiday until 2021, begs Americans to contemplate the complicated process of freedom. In so many ways, freedom is still out of reach for many of our fellow Americans today. On Juneteenth, we celebrate how far we’ve come, and in community find the joy and strength necessary to continue the struggle for equality and freedom for all.