’Twas the eve before Hanukkah
And all through the shul
Not a person was present
In the office or school.
The halls were dark.
The playground was quiet.
Rabbi Julie was not to be found.
BUT enter the kitchen and
What do you see?
Six volunteers so busily
Preparing a meal for the
Food insecure.
It’s MESH night at Shomrei
You can be sure.
On Tuesday, December 24, a crew of six including menu planner Aileen Grossberg prepared a holiday comfort food meal for 50 MESH guests plus plenty of leftovers for last minute drop ins. Barbara Gollob and Linda Ariel with help from Carol Blau prepared a colorful chopped salad of grape tomatoes, carrots, celery, cucumber, peppers and chick peas.
At the same time, Charlie and Sarah Steindel made 100-yes 100- cupcake sized turkey meatloaves with a delicious glaze. The meatloaf was accompanied by mashed potatoes and green peas for a colorful, stick-to-the-ribs main course. It’s a good thing that Charlie and Sarah are good at math. They certainly needed their math skills to multiply the recipes.
Cooking is certainly math dependent.
The rest of the menu consisted of 2 slices of bread, 2 clementines, a brownie, 2 holiday Oreos, a bottle of cold water and a pack of crackers just in case the guests had no breakfast on Christmas morning.
Our vegan and vegetarian guests enjoyed the exact same menu except the turkey was replaced by plant based meat and a diet appropriate dessert and snack.
Every green take-a-way bag was upgraded with a holiday napkin.
Alex Kent expertly organized the packing and Shirley and David Grill delivered the bags to the MESH site.
Thank you to this wonderful crew of experienced MESH volunteer sous chefs. We’d welcome some newcomers to share in this mitzvah of feeding the hungry.
For those interested in volunteering who are not available on Tuesday afternoons, we are brainstorming different ways to make it work. Let us know what would work for you.
Additionally, each Monday afternoon we deliver any usable food leftover from kiddish to MESH.
If you would like to help out with any of these efforts check out the Shomrei Signup Genius: www.shomrei.org/mesh.
You can also sign up to help greet and serve the MESH guests 6 nights a week at 619 Bloomfield Ave, Montclair. (Site of the former The Office restaurant) Go directly to the MESH website: www.wearemesh.org
About MESH:
The Carol Starr MESH Cafe at Shomrei (Montclair Emergency Services for Hope) is a cooperative effort between the MESH organization and local synagogues and churches.
Volunteer at Shomrei
Shomrei provides 50 meals to MESH on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month. We need volunteers to help prepare and pack the food.
signup here
Volunteer at the MESH Site
Volunteers are also welcome to help serve food 6 nights a week, Monday through Saturday, 4:30-6:30 pm at the MESH site, 619 Bloomfield Ave, Montclair.
signup here
Monetary Donations
If you can’t help in-person, please consider a donation to help fund this important service.
donate here
Questions? Contact Lynne or Aileen:
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