VIDALIA — Angel Heckard strives to be a light to her family, friends, classmates and community. 

Case in point, she along with classmate Deondrias Boxley, recently conceived, planned and presented what is believed to have been Vidalia High school’s first black history program.

“I thought if we had a black history program, that would be so great because so many black people do good things for us, and we don’t even know anything about them,” said Heckard, a 17-year-old Vidalia High School junior. “That kind of pushed me to want to do it.”

Heckard is one of two students who organized this year’s black history program.

“It inspired me to want to do more,” Heckard said.

Many of her peers, she said, came to her after the program and told her how much they learned and that they had been unaware of some of the positive accomplishments blacks had made to American society and the history that went beyond slavery.

“A lot of people, they don’t know. . . ” Heckard said, “How do these people, black and white, help us today?” Heckard said, adding she wanted to emphasize the lasting impact of great black leaders in presenting black history.

Heckard said she has plans for what she personally wants to do now to make the world a better place.

“If I can help someone else with their life, then that’s what I’m going to do,” she said, “I feel like that’s why I’m here.”

Heckard said a few weeks ago she started talking to her mom, Cynthia Martin, about her next project. Heckard said she wants to start a scholarship program for black girls who are in the Little Viking Cheerleaders.

Heckard said when she was a young cheerleader her mother did not always have the money for her to participate but she still made it work, sometimes putting a financial strain on the family.

“I just want to give back to them,” Heckard said. “I see they have a bright future.”

Her passion for giving back and activism, Heckard said, is rooted in her faith.

“I was always the one who wanted to go to church even when my mom stopped forcing us to go. I still wanted to go and I learned more, and I met people who have helped me spiritually and mentally,” she said.

Heckard is the middle child between two older siblings, Ashleh Martin and Jearamine Martin and a younger brother, William Heckard. She said her role is to hold everyone together, along with her mother, and to remind them to turn to God for guidance.

“They will stress about a lot of stuff, and I’m like, ‘Guys, don’t worry about it. Let’s pray about it.’ I keep everyone together. Even when they stress out about things, I’m always telling them to pray about it,” she said.

It is the same advice she said she gives to younger students, keep God first and stay focused on your goals.

Heckard is involved in the Key Club at her school, which focuses on community service, including working with Habitat for Humanity, volunteering at the Natchez Stewpot and Christmas Caroling.

“If I can touch one person at a time, one class at time, one school at a time, then eventually it will evolve,” Heckard said. “I think eventually the world will get better.”