Pike County residents will have the opportunity to visit local homes and enjoy the culinary specialties of notable chefs on Jan. 27, when St. Andrew’s Mission holds its annual Shuffle to the Chefs.
“This is our one major fundraiser,” mission executive director Ed Codding said Tuesday. “We’re using chefs from Hammond (La.), Brookhaven, local restaurants and Jackson.”
Codding discussed Shuffle to the Chefs and other issues involving St. Andrew’s at the McComb Lions Club meeting Tuesday.
Codding described Shuffle to the Chefs as “a progressive dinner party. It’s a great way to have a wonderful time, and it’s for a good cause.”
The tour of homes begins at 6 p.m. at Lott Furniture on Anna Drive, where shuttle buses begin taking participants to the Brandon Drive homes of Tommy and Rachel McKenzie, Brad and Jeanna Clark, Joey and Ann Wiggington, and Brian and Angela Remley.
Chefs preparing dishes include Parker Voss and Mary Grace Moss of The Caboose, Doyle Orlando of Jacmel Inn in Hammond, Christian Amelot of Jackson, Anthony Delpino of Coco Bean Bakery and Cafe in Hammond, Chef Paul Brock and Chip Gibbes of McComb, and Ken Dixon of Mitchell’s in Brookhaven.
Tickets for Shuffle to the Chefs are $100 each and available at Selman’s Jewelers, P.J.’s Coffee, Holmes Stationers and the St. Andrew’s Mission office on Bendat Street in McComb.
Codding said money raised helps a number of programs St. Andrew’s provides.
The mission’s efforts began in 1995 to provide a day care center and soup kitchen for residents in the nearby White Acres housing complex.
The day care center is gone, Codding said, but the soup kitchen at 615 Bendat St. continues to serve meals on Mondays and Fridays to about 125 people at the kitchen and delivers another 80 to shut-ins.
He said the mission’s programs have expanded to include a food bank that serves Pike County and a large portion of Amite County. He said the pantry is a collaborative effort with the McComb Interdenominational Care Association and provides 1,000 pounds of food each month to senior citizens and the disabled.
Codding said St. Andrew’s began a free medical clinic four years ago to serve people who do not have health insurance.
“We provide primary care for people,” he said. “It’s been a godsend for some people, because a lot of them had not seen a doctor in years. They could not, because they had no health insurance.
“Since we started four years ago, we have seen 1,000 patients, and 70 percent of them are repeat patients,” he said.”
Codding said the mission also provides counseling services, anger management, parenting courses, and GED and computer courses working through Southwest Mississippi Community College.
The mission’s most recent project is the 13,000-square foot senior center on Main Street in downtown McComb.
The center is located in a building donated to the mission by late Allan Smith of Lott Furniture Co.
“We’ve been renovating the building for two years,” Codding said, adding that the building had to be gutted and rebuilt to meet city building codes. He said the work is about 95 percent complete
“We’re getting very close to opening that senior center,” he said. “We’ve had several events in it already.”
Codding said the center is for people 55 and older.
“We plan to provide programs, classes ...” he said. “This will be a place where seniors can socialize, and our intent is to do this (have programs) five days a week. I think it’s going to be a great asset to the McComb area.”
