COURTESY PHOTOS/Del Toro Media,LLC

The annual Jamaica for Immaculate Conception Catholic Church attracted folks near and far with music, games and an amazing variety of great food.

“At least 4,000 people turned out,” said parish council president Rosie Cabrera. “People came from all the surrounding towns, and even from places like Houston and Carrizo Springs. There was lots of great food, family fun and games for the kiddos. It was hot throughout the day, but we had a nice cool evening.”

Festivities continued until 10 p.m., culminating with a concert by Tejano singer Michael Salgado.

“We’re still counting the money raised, but we’ve surpassed previous amounts,” Cabrera said. “This year we had lots of families from the church who came unite with the fire restoration fund and just to help. The digits are just going up incredibly fast.”

Led by Cabrera and Alma Cardenas with guidance from Fr. Heriberto Mercado and the help of the community, the Half and Half Raffle reached the grand total of $102,310.

“One very lucky winner got half of that. The rest goes to our church,” Cabrera said.

The winner, Ninfa Castorena, is a Muleshoe resident who attends Immaculate Conception.

“Jamaica has been done for more than 20 years and keeps going,” Cabrera said. “Israel Azua led and organized this year’s event with the help of parishioners at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. Father Heriberto always shares great ideas to make each Jamaica a successful event.”

The church has been working to restore its sanctuary since the electrical fire that took place Dec. 12, 2021.

“We’ve had some bumps in the road with insurance and getting contractors to come out,” Cabrera said. “There are not as many people working on that right now as we would like to have. I would like to thank all the community for buying tickets and joining us at the Jamaica last night. It was very much appreciated.”

Immaculate Conception has planned more events that they hope will be as successful as the Jamaica. The Diez y Seis de Septiembre celebration takes place on Sept. 16, and Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, on Nov. 2.

For more information, call Immaculate Conception at 806-272-4167.