JXN Rocks! Community Service Project Launching March 2023
JXN Rocks! is a community service project and campaign seeking to beautify the City of Jackson with rocks that have been hand-painted by residents to inspire positivity and unity.
Jackson, Miss. (February 17, 2023) — Lofton & Co. is excited to announce the first project as part of their Better Together Community Initiative. Lofton & Co. is a small business based in Jackson, specializing in handmade candles and other home goods. The business was established by Jackson natives, Tony and Jessica Lofton, in 2020 after being inspired to follow their dreams at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Before we started our family, we both shared a dream of building a legacy based on giving back and pouring into a place that has been so instrumental in shaping who we are today,” says Jessica. “I’d dabbled in hand-making natural hair products but wanted to make products and things that even more people could experience. Candles immediately came to mind and I procrastinated on the idea for a long time because I didn’t fully believe that we could do it and be successful at it. After being snapped into the reality of taking advantage of the present by the pandemic and seeing a family owned candle company with a family that looks just like ours on Good Morning America, we decided to get rolling.”
The Better Together Community Initiative is based on their belief that when we work together to improve the quality of life for underserved groups, we’re all better because of it. The initiative was developed around three major goals: uplifting the Black community, creating better environments and ending homelessness.
The JXN Rocks! campaign demonstrates Lofton & Co.’s commitment to creating better environments throughout Jackson. Not only should our communities be healthy, we should take the extra effort to make them appealing for residents to live, learn, work and play in. Using rocks that have been hand-painted by Jackson residents, also known as kindness rocks, the project seeks to beautify the city and spread kindness with positive, uplifting and inspirational messages.
“Serving the community and giving back is part of who we are, so adding a service component to our business was always in the plan,” says Jessica.. “We had a new addition to our family that caused us to step back from the business for a while, but now that we’re back, we wanted to finally bring one of our service ideas to life.”
The painted rocks will be placed at various locations across the city from north to south Jackson ,in what will be called “JXN Rocks! Gardens.” Residents and tourists who find the rocks are encouraged to snap a photo and share on social media with the hashtag #jxnrocks or by mentioning @jxnrocks in their post. We also encourage replacing the rocks in a new location or in your neighborhood to further circulate the message. “We really hope that we can encourage Jacksonians to remain united in their love for Jackson and positive about the city’s future. Jackson is a resilient, vibrant and culturally-rich place and we want our rocks to be a reminder of that,” Jessica said.
To become involved with the project, please click here.