File photoKentucky Ham in a cast iron skillet for the annual Kentucky Ham Meal, which is held each year at First Christian Church in Meridian.

This year marks 60 years that First Christian Church in Meridian has been frying ham and serving up piping hot biscuits at its annual Kentucky Ham Meal.

“This will be a monumental event for us marking the 60th year,” First Christian Church Pastor Mark Benson said. “It has happened every year since 1963, except for the one year we had to cancel because of the pandemic. Even that year we raised money, we just didn’t have the meal we normally have.

To reflect on the 60th year, the church fundraiser has a new logo and T-shirts to commemorate the event. The tried and true menu consists of Kentucky cured ham, red-eye gravy, grits, scrambled eggs, homemade biscuits, homemade preserves and coffee or juice.

“Beyond that it is a very traditional meal,” Benson said. “We don’t change what’s working.”

Even more impressive than the amount of ham that is fried and the meals that are served is the number of organizations and causes which benefit from proceeds from the annual event.

Proceeds from the fundraiser benefit the following organizations and causes: The Boys and Girls Club of East Mississippi, The Care Lodge, Laura McDonald Autry Memorial Fund for special needs children, LOVE’s Kitchen, Hope Village for Children, Anderson Hospital’s Cancer Benevolence Fund, The Meridian Freedom Project, Southern Christian Services in Jackson and an in-church camp scholarship.

In order to support these organizations Benson said community involvement is essential. First Christian Church of Meridian has given $15,000-20,000 to charities in previous years.

“For us to be able to give that away we need the community to turn out for the meal,” Benson said. “We think it is a great event that has stood the test of time. It goes to a great cause all within the state of Mississippi, with most of them being local.”

Benson says besides giving to a good cause a lot of people come back each year for the fellowship.

“A lot of people feel like eating in our fellowship hall is the best experience, because you get to see people and fellowship with them, some you haven’t seen in a year,” Benson said. “It is a fun, delicious event that is for a great cause and has a recipe for success.”

If you go:

• The meal will be held at the church at 23rd Ave. and 13th Street, Tuesday, Feb. 7, from 6:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 5-7 p.m. and Wednesday, Feb. 8, from 6:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

• Tickets are $10 and may be purchased at the door the day of the event, or in advance by calling the church office at 601-693-1425.

• Carry-outs are also available. A drive-thru is provided on 13th Street – between the church and the Merritt house, which housed the church offices. Delivery is available for 10 or more orders to local businesses.

The numbers in previous years:

• 1,000 pounds of Kentucky Ham.

• 500 pounds of flour.

• 300 sticks of Crisco shortening.

• 40 gallons of buttermilk (as 12,000-14,000 biscuits have been made in busiest years).

• 6,000 butter singles.

• 200 pounds of grits.

• 728 dozen eggs.

• 4,000 jelly packs; plus many pints of homemade jelly and preserves.

The beginning:

The tradition of the meal began in 1963 as a call for help. An appeal went went out to the Christian Churches (Disciples of Christ) to help in modernizing Jackman Memorial Hospital in Bilaspur, India.

Wanting to respond to the need, FCC of Meridian’s Christian Women’s Fellowship decided to sponsor a fundraiser. At the suggestion of Dr. and Mrs. Apperson, who had come to the Meridian church the previous year, the first Kentucky Ham Breakfast was organized.

The Appersons traveled to Kentucky and purchased 60 pounds of Kentucky cured hams and brought them back in the trunk of their car for the first breakfast. Almost $600 was raised for an offering sent to the Jackman Hospital that year.

Fifty-nine years later, the amount of ham purchased has increased to more than 800 pounds. Almost 3,000 supporters are now being served and serving times has increased to two days, and it is now called the Kentucky Ham Meal. Men and youth as well as friends outside of FCC also lend a hand in what has evolved into a community wide event.