When St. Andrew’s Mission began 10 years ago in McComb, it was a small outreach ministry taking baby steps to reach out to the community.
A decade later, the organization has taken leaps — operating a food ministry, free health clinic, S.A.M.’s Diner, GED classes, F.I.G. Tree Ministries, parenting classes and the Southwest Mississippi Recovery Network.
And it’s poised to take its biggest step yet when a senior citizens center opens next summer.
To celebrate a decade of milestones, a food tasting benefit, “Shuffle to the Chefs,” will be held Jan. 31.
The unique event will feature six chefs: Ann Carruth Esté Jackson of Dixie Springs; Parker Voss, a chef at BR Prime at the Beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi; Paul Brock of Chef Delight Catering Company; Tommy Wallace, executive chef at Fernwood Country Club; Gary Jones, assistant chef at the country club; and Michael Duncan, chef with Performance Food Group.
The tasting takes place in Fernwood, with food and wine pairings at the homes of Frankie and Melanie Montalvo, 1030 Country Club Road; and Dr. Eric and Lisa Lewis, 1006 Lewis Lane. The event will begin and end at the country club, where appetizers, dessert and wine pairings will be presented, along with what coordinator Tina Brumfield calls a “foodie” auction.
“It’s only for food-related items,” Brumfield said. “For example, one of Emeril Lagasse’s chefs from one of his New Orleans restaurants is going to give a dinner for six at Mike and Lydia Beebe’s home, and people can bid on that.”
Brumfield said participants will gather at 6:30 p.m. at the country club for appetizers. They’ll then be taken by motorcoach to the Montalvo and Lewis homes, visiting in shifts. They’ll return to the country club for dessert and the auction.
“It’s going to be a fabulous event,” Brumfield said. “Nobody will be bored. I can promise you that. … I really commend the homeowners for opening their homes for St. Andrew’s, and I commend the volunteers who’ve stepped up to help because it’s for St. Andrew’s.”
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The mission began in 1997 as an outreach of St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church. Its first service was a child care center in the White Acres community of McComb, where the church is located.
But the mission changed its focus from child care to other needs — helping disadvantaged, elderly and disabled people with medical and nutritional services.
Then came Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. The storm laid bare many needs for area citizens. In December 2005, St. Andrew’s became the sponsoring 501c3 entity for the Southwest Mississippi Recovery Network, which received $600,000 to help more than 1,000 households that needed repair or rebuilding.
The mission operates other services — through donations only — and those services continue to expand. Here’s a rundown of other services offered by St. Andrew’s:
• A free medical clinic is open with seven volunteer doctors and a nurse practitioner donating their services. As of this September, the clinic had 435 registered patients from Pike, Amite, Walthall, Lincoln, Lawrence, Franklin and Wilkinson counties. With an average of 25 patients per week, the need for services is growing. The clinic’s annual budget is $35,000.
• A food ministry began in 1999, serving 40 families with an emphasis on the elderly. St. Andrew’s now buys 10,000 to 12,000 pounds of food each month to supplement the food supply for 800 to 1,000 people. It delivers food to 48 homes twice weekly in Pike and Amite counties. In addition, S.A.M.’s Diner serves free meals each Monday and Friday. The budget is $32,000 yearly, but more is needed, St. Andrew’s officials say.
• The F.I.G. Tree Ministry helps “fill in the gaps” that other services miss, including help with utility bills. It’s largely funded through the McComb Ministerial Association, with a budget of $22,000 annually.
• Two thrift stores are open — at Maryland Avenue and Fifth Street in McComb, and in Brookhaven. A third is eyed in Natchez. Volunteers staff all operations.
• An education center is operating in a house donated and moved to Pennsylvania Avenue, just around the corner from the St. Andrew’s Mission center on Bendat Street. St. Andrew’s partners with Southwest Mississippi Community College to offer GED and computer classes, plus anger management, drug prevention, parenting, CPR and first aid training. GED classes have already expanded, and St. Andrew’s plans to add a computer lab.
• A volunteer center, which will be known as Centenary House, will offer lodging for people who come to McComb, particularly mission teams who work on St. Andrew’s’ projects. A house has been donated for the center and will be placed on Pennsylvania Avenue, next to the St. Andrew’s educational building.
• The latest mission outreach is a senior citizens center, to be opened in 2008 in downtown McComb.
Dr. Roger Nickerson, full-time volunteer director of community education for St. Andrew’s, said there is a definite need for a senior center for anyone age 60 and older to have a place for activities that help them physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. But the cost to renovate the 10,000-square-foot building is some $300,000. The back two-thirds of the building must be renovated. And before the center can open, a sprinkler system, commercial kitchen and two handicapped-accessible bathrooms must be added. Nearly $100,000 of the total cost will be used to meet guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Main Street space has been donated by Alan Smith of Lott Furniture. Plans are to move all of St. Andrew’s offices to the rear portion of the building eventually.
“The center will have an emphasis on wellness,” said Nickerson, a retiree who moved to McComb from Oregon with his wife, Berde.
Plans call for a main room with seating for 200, plus two classrooms that will be used for various programs. The center will likely be open five days a week, serving lunch each day.
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Tickets to “Shuffle to the Chef” are $100 each, with proceeds going to fund the programs operated by St. Andrew’s.
Sponsors of the event include Performance Food Group, McComb Coca-Cola, St. Luke Home Health, Cork & Cask, Trustmark National Bank, McComb Printing, the Stanford Group-Bobby Lenoir, State Farm Insurance, Buffalo Services and Entergy. For sponsorship information, contact Patti Bonner at 876-2656.
For more information about the event and for tickets, contact Tina Brumfield at 684-5180 or e-mail her at phbrum@telepak.net. For tax benefits this year, buy tickets before Dec. 31.
