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The “Riders 4 Race Amity” came to Selma last weekend to visit the historic city and give back.

One of those stops was at Historic Brown Chapel AME church, where they not only toured the church that served as a rallying spot for the Voting Rights marches of 1965, but they worshiped with the congregation and did some landscaping around the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial outside the church.

Bruce Holmes, a tour guide for a church and church trustee, said when they called them about touring the church, they wanted to do more than just schedule a tour.

“They told us that they wanted to worship with us on that Sunday, and they also wanted to do something to help us,” Holmes said. “They asked about landscaping, and they decided to do some landscaping around Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s statue.”

“Riders 4 Race Amity” is a group of students from Madison, Wisconsin. Kate Vestlie, the Founder of “Riders for Race Amity,” was responsible for organizing the landscaping project around Dr. King’s statue.

“Blessings to you Kate for what you have done to make all of this happen,” Holmes said.

Before they started work on the landscaping, the group spent time worshiping in their Sunday morning service, which is currently being held at the Edmundite Missions while the church sanctuary is being refurbished.

They also took time to learn the history of Historic Brown Chapel AME Church.

“They wanted to hear about the church’s role in the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Movements,” said Linda Holmes, Bruce’s wife. “All of the organizers, coordinators, chaperones, and the landscapers joined them for the tour.”

Linda said the group did a great job with the landscaping to help add to the beauty of the church.

“It looks so beautiful out there,” Linda said. “What a blessing it is to have young people travel so far on their bikes, to volunteer their services to Historic Brown Chapel AME Church.”

Riders 4 Race Amity also plans to return for the 61st Bridge Crossing Jubilee and worship with Brown Chapel AME back int the church’s sanctuary.