Shuffle to the Chefs, the biggest annual fundraiser for St. Andrew’s Mission and the critical services it provides to the area, will be held Thursday evening at McComb Mill.
Tickets are $100 and available at PJ’s Coffee and Selman’s Jewelers.
“Shuffle is not only a fundraiser, it’s like an awareness raiser, really, because we’re not out there running commercials all the time or touting the mission until we’re blue in the face,” St. Andrew’s board member Brandon Andrews said.
This year’s event is expected to be one of the biggest ever, and Andrews said it certainly is in terms of the number of chefs, with 27 coming to show off their best dishes, more than any other year in Shuffle’s 18-year history.
Andrews noted that essentially puts the cost for sampling all of the dishes, including from white tablecloth places like Cena of Hammond, La., and the new Le Pointe steakhouse in Summit, at $3.70 each.
“When you water it down per restaurant, you’re not going to get into any of these for $3.70,” he said.
This year’s event features the return of Shuffle veterans like the Fernwood Country Club, The Mallard, Potbelly’s Catering, Tasty Smoke, Tortilla Soup and Mitchell’s as well as Al Dente, which made its Shuffle debut last year.
Newcomers this year include The Dinner Bell, which will serve its signature fried eggplant, the Blue Goose Diner, Bojangles, Kwik Grill, 21 Ultra Bar & Grill and Le Pointe.
“The Pike County Arts Council is coming for the first time with their local flavor, with their spin on a meatball with a bowtie pasta that looks like a man in tux,” Andrews said.
A silent auction will feature an original piece by the late McComb artist Suzy Sanders, as well as a custom piece of jewelry from Selman’s and a bevy of other items.
Andrews said the mission’s work has become more vital over the past year.
“I would say it’s now more active than ever and relied upon,” he said.
And it has not been an easy year.
“We almost lost one of our medical clinics,” Andrews said. “Dr. (Brett) Ferman picked it up and we were able to remodel the facility down there on Georgia Avenue.”
Andrews said the mission may eventually consolidate some of its operations, including the food pantry, to the Georgia Avenue location that used to house a shopping center.
In addition to McComb, St. Andrew’s also operates a free medical clinic in Brookhaven.
“These are used heavily by folks without insurance, and I would think at the start of the new year with changes in health insurance we’re probably going to see more of that,” Andrews said. “We saw pretty much a clean sweep of the food pantry during the uncertainty of SNAP benefits. That was used more than ever.”
The mission still cooks hot meals for people in need twice a week and offers a free breakfast on Fridays at the activity center on Main Street, which also offers a lot of programs and assistance.
“They do anything from needing help with applications for Medicare. They’re all over the place with stuff they help with,” Andrews said.
The mission has six thrift stores that supply the bulk of its funding. They're located in McComb, Brookhaven, Natchez, Ridgeland, Vicksburg and Vidalia, La.
“The thrift stores are at an all-time high and I think that’s just an indicator of where we’re at in the economy,” Andrews said. “The funding from those goes a long way in maintaining property for the food pantry, activity center and whatnot.”
This year’s sponsors include platinum sponsor Southern Beverage, which recently acquired Southwest Distributors.
“They picked right where Southwest Distributors was,” Andrews said, adding that former Southwest Distributors owner Rob Belote and his family’s foundation is a sponsor this year as well.
Other sponsors include Coca-Cola, Pike National Bank, First Bank, Southwest Media Group, Supertalk Mississippi, Wayne Sanderson, the Enterprise-Journal, Selman’s C Spire and Southwest Mississippi Health Systems, McComb Billboard, Modern Mill, Keith and Karen Sanders, Southwest Supply Co., Graphics Etc., Hometown Realty, Dr. Stephanie Ricks, Rooted Title Co., Dixie Packaging, Air Comfort Systems, Judge and Mrs. Keith Starrett, Faust & Associates, the Scenic Rivers Development Alliance, Northside Spirits, Lamar Advertising, United Country Southern States Realty, Jim Alford and Craig Haskins and Associates.
Andrews noted that the Southwest Mississippi Community College soccer team will provide free valet service, with their tips going to a team fundraiser.
He said the event is a good night out for socializing and getting a taste of things out of the ordinary.
“It’s a good sense of community,” Andrews said.
And it helps support important services that are rarely known outside of those most in need of them.
“I would hate to see our area without something like St. Andrew’s,” he said.
