Coach Yo foundation to host free community dinner in Oxford

The Old Armory Pavilion will become a free gathering place for Oxford families on June 24, when the No Ceilings with Coach Yo Foundation hosts a Community Dinner from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The event is part of two free community offerings the foundation has planned in Oxford, with the focus on fellowship, food and youth athletic development.

The dinner fits squarely within the mission Yolett McPhee-McCuin has built around her foundation. No Ceilings with Coach Yo began after Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas in 2019, when the effort was created to assist with relief. Since then, the foundation has shifted into outreach supporting women and youth through education and sports, and it says it helps develop children through those same two lanes.

That gives the June 24 dinner a purpose beyond a simple social event. The foundation has emphasized community engagement, character-building and leadership, and the Oxford program places those goals in a setting families can reach without cost. With school out and summer schedules opening up, a no-charge meal at a familiar local venue offers a practical way for residents to connect around youth-centered programming.

The Old Armory Pavilion also adds meaning to the setting. The Yoknapatawpha Arts Council manages the space, along with the Powerhouse and Lafayette County Arena, making it one of Oxford’s key public event sites. The pavilion has already hosted Juneteenth-related activities in mid-June, underscoring its role as a civic space where free community programming can take root.

McPhee-McCuin, widely known as Coach Yo, has long been described as a Bahamas native who puts service and community engagement at the center of her public work. Oxford coverage from last year also showed the foundation taking the same approach, when free empowerment summits for girls and mothers were planned at Central Elementary School. The new summer events continue that pattern by pairing a recognizable local sports figure with programming aimed at families, women and young people.

For Lafayette County, the appeal is straightforward: a free dinner, a familiar Oxford location and an outreach effort tied to one of the city’s most visible community voices. In a summer calendar often packed with ticketed or private events, the foundation’s public invitation stands out because it asks nothing of families except to show up.