A Starkville native gives back to community through her food
Minnie Fox has been giving back to her community for years
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI)- A Starkville woman has been feeding the community for over a decade out of the kindness of her heart.
Minnie Fox has been giving back to her community for years. The 76-year-old chef hosts dozens outside her home to eat a meal each year.
Fox worked as a cook at the Oktibbeha County Jail, and that’s where she got her inspiration to give back.
“I started doing this in 2004 I started doing it for my birthday at the extension building but it kept getting larger and larger and when I retired I decided to start doing it at my home,” said Fox.
Fox has expanded from feeding for her birthday to connecting political leaders and political hopefuls to their constituents.
One of her close friends Cheikh Taylor asked her if she wouldn’t mind cooking for candidates and she couldn’t say no.
“Since we have so many people running for different things let’s just have a get acquainted taste and get acquainted,” said Fox.
Friday’s spread consisted of different meats, sides, and desserts. Fox’s love for cooking doesn’t just stop in the Kitchen. Fox was able to publish a book that caught the attention of quite a few people.
“The next time I did two thousand and they were in stores and I sold all of them all but 7 and I still have the seven,” said Fox.
Her first boss, former Sheriff Dolph Bryan, was a big figure in helping her get the book published.
“If she had a question she’d come to ask me and I’d do my best to answer the question for her if I didn’t know the answer we’d try to find it. That’s the kind of work we did on the book,” said former Oktibbeha County sheriff Dolph Bryan.
The annual feeding has gone on for nearly 20 years and Fox doesn’t think she’ll stop anytime soon, but when she does, the tradition won’t.
“I want to keep doing this until the Lord puts it in my spirit and says you are not able to do this anymore you stop and I want to pass the torch to someone else,” said Fox.
Fox said she’s thankful for all of the people she’s met over the years and hopes to keep helping others network through her food.
