Madison resident Jatavious Ward has spent the past two years running his photography and videography business, “JIT Productions,” covering various areas, including athletic events and weddings.
Outside of his personal business, the Morgan County High School senior participates in the school’s varsity wrestling and football programs.
In recent weeks, Ward encountered an article about The Columbus Dream Center, a food bank based in the South Georgia city. After reaching out to the writer, he decided to make a documentary to highlight the community pantry’s needs.
“I [later] reached out to the actual food pantry, and when I did that, they referred me to the head [of the organization,]” Ward said. “I’ve been emailing her back and forth all this week, and I got a list of the local people who would help with it.”
According to Ward, he will make the trip to Columbus with some of his friends from school to create the documentary. The group will then ‘divide and conquer’ to record interviews with individuals involved in the organization.
“We’re gonna split up so that I can get [perspectives] from everyone who helps with it,” Ward said. “I really want to know how it came to be, because they feed many people across multiple counties, which is really interesting to me.”
As a devout Christian, Ward said he plans to interact with individuals in the Columbus community by attending a local church service.
“I’ll probably go to one of the Baptist churches and worship with them in the morning,” he said. “I also hope to have lunch with some of the people, and my friends will go off and do different interviews [during that time].”
According to an Oct. 30 Fox 5 article, the month-long government shutdown led to cuts in food assistance funding, including Georgia’s SNAP benefits. The suspension of SNAP benefits ultimately impacted 1.5 million Georgia residents, forcing many to turn to food pantries for help.
Ward explained that the recent need for food assistance greatly influenced his decision to work with the Columbus Dream Center on his project. He hopes to shed light on the food pantry, to help viewers see the shutdowns’ direct effects on such organizations.
“A lot of people are unaware of what the stakes of the government shutdown had on certain areas, especially in that area alone, and [this situation] is very sad,” Ward said. “Some people will go hungry and need to get by. I feel like a lot of people don’t know what they’re really voting for, not saying politically, but it’s an issue that people need to be more aware of.”
Overall, Ward plans to release a trailer in the coming days to explain the subject of his project and intends to release the final product on his YouTube channel within a month. He also plans to inform local Madison churches about the project and how to get involved.
“I gave a sermon at Madison Baptist Church because I’ve interned there, and I would like to tell everybody about what I am doing,” Ward said. “I have this plan to show them instead of just telling them; and when I have the documentary ready, and uploaded, other people go watch it, and then they can get in direct contact to get involved.”