Jennifer Mekel Jones was moved to do something to help when she learned that a member of her church was missing.
“As part of her extended family, our entire church community was looking for ways to help,” said Mekel Jones, a gospel music recording artist and a minister at Mount Calvary Baptist Church. “I began to ask myself the question: ‘What can I do to assist?’ I’m not part of the political structure or law enforcement, but God gave me a voice. In searching for ways to use the gift God gave me, we came up with the idea of a concert to raise awareness.”
That was last year when the church family at Mount Calvary Baptist Church and others in the Akron community joined in the search for Taylor Robinson.
The 19-year-old Kent State student went missing May 3, while working as a private health-care provider in Akron.
Her remains were found last September in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Her murder has not been solved.
Mekel Jones took the stage at Cedar Point last Labor Day weekend, via a sponsorship of Mount Calvary’s Power of Word and Music Ministry, and performed a tribute concert to Robinson in an effort to heighten awareness of her disappearance.
The concert became the launching point for an annual event — “Remembering Those Who Are Missing Concert” — to raise awareness of missing persons and to remind families that are searching for loved one that they are not alone.
“We want to encourage people who have members of their families missing, and we have committed to do something every year to bring those families together and give them a place to distribute information about their loved ones and to provide support,” said the Rev. Jeffrey Dennis, senior pastor at Mount Calvary. “We also want to challenge and encourage people who may know something about anyone who is missing to speak up.”
At 7 p.m. on Friday, Mekel Jones will present the first of two concerts this weekend during the Greater Bethel Baptist Church’s 13th annual Community Jubilee. The event, designed to bring the community together, extends from Friday through Sunday at Middlebury Plaza, 871 E. Exchange St., Akron.
Jubilee festivities include music, food, prizes, speakers and entertainment. A rib burnoff and car show will be held Saturday and a communion service will be offered on Sunday.
“We are promoting unity with the jubilee celebration and to include the concert is the right thing to do,” said the Rev. Melford Elliott, senior pastor at Greater Bethel. “I don’t know what it feels like to have someone missing. I can’t imagine the void it leaves, but we need to embrace these families and give them some encouragement and support.”
Mother finds support
Carmilla Rucker, Robinson’s mother, knows well what it means to have community support when a loved one goes missing. She said that she is thankful for all that her church family and the general community has done and are doing to help her through the most difficult time in her life.
“My church family has been my foundation. I can’t begin to explain what the support of my church and the community has meant,” Rucker said. “I’m at a place now where I refuse to allow anger to consume me because that wouldn’t be fair to Taylor. She was a happy kid. She’s been taken from me physically but I won’t let anger take away who she was. I understand that she was a gift to me from God and God wanted her back. She was [God’s] first. She belonged to him first and he wanted her back. I’m at peace with that.”
Rucker, Elliott, Dennis and Mekel Jones are hopeful that the concert series will serve as a tool to help other families on the road to peace of mind. Mekel Jones will also perform at 2 p.m. Saturday at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky. She also has plans for future concerts throughout the state, including in Cleveland, Dayton, Cincinnati, Lima, Toledo and Youngstown.
Families with missing loved ones are encouraged to submit a photo for a slideshow during the concert and to distribute fliers and information about missing persons.
For more information, call 330-283-5228.
“We have to tell the story of those who are missing and make sure people remember. Carmilla is an example of how you can go through a fiery trial and survive and have joy and have peace,” said Mekel Jones, who has served as the chorus master for the Akron Symphony Orchestra’s Gospel Meets Symphony for six years. “I just hope that by lifting my voice, I can help someone find forgiveness and know that God is concerned about them and their pain and grief.”
Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com. She can be followed at www.twitter.com/ColetteMJenkins.