The Sunday before Passover I sent a note to my family asking if they may be interested in a family zoom seder. I promised no more than a half hour. Passover is my favorite holiday and being sheltered alone, I needed some kind of holiday. To my surprise, 90% agreed. My immediate family is twenty five people. Though my friends reserve a place at my seder table a year in advance, my family will argue to only eat and no actual seder. My house, my rules and I force the seder.
Author Archives: Fern Heinig
MESH Report Mar 24, 2020
Because of the “lock down”, our usual guests at the Carol Starr Cafe are experiencing more food challenges than the normal week. MESH is making an effort to supply take away meals for all who need.
The Chaos Crew took the “Meal” challenge last night. We decided to perform a double mitzvah, feed our usual guests and support a local restaurant which is struggling to stay open. Jackie’s Grillette will not close their doors as long as they break even daily. They do not want to lay off any of their employees who need their paycheck to feed their own families. Jackie’s rose to the challenge and supplied 30 individual bags with a very hearty sandwich, cole slaw, and a bottle of water.
MESH Report Feb 25, 2020
From Captain Fern Heinig:
I would like to start with wonderful news, one of our regular guests shared with me that she now has an apartment. She is so excited and grateful. Once she is settled, she plans on volunteering on Tuesday nights to pay back the kindness she has received at the Carol Starr Cafe.
The Chaos Crew hosted a full house of 24 guests at the Carol Starr Cafe and also provided 6 takeaway meals.
MESH Report Jan 28, 2020
From Captain Fern Heinig
“It was a really good MESH night” – quote from Bonny at the end of the night.
The Chaos Crew was a high performance team this past Tuesday, serving 25 guests in house at the Carol Starr MESH cafe and providing six plus take away meals. A special dinner is always provided the last week of January as a way to celebrate Captain Fern’s birthday.
MESH Report Jan 21, 2020
From Captain Fern Heinig
Last night, it was cold. We had a full house plus, whom we let in early, so they could get out of the cold. We also provide three take away meals so we served a total of 30 people. Note: we had four non fish eating vegetarians, which was a little of a challenge.
MESH Report Dec 17, 2019
From Captain Fern Heinig:
The Chaos Crew managed the Carol Starr Cafe, back of house and front of house. We served 20 guests who braved the ice storm and provided six take away meals.
A huge thank you to my wonderful volunteers who shopped at Costco for socks, blankets, and gloves for our guests. All of our guests left with a VPG (valuable parting gift).
MESH Report Nov 19, 2019
From Captain Fern Heinig:
Last night the Carol Starr Cafe had a full house of 24 people and provided three take away meals. We welcomed some new guests and enjoyed the company of many of our regulars.
MESH Report Oct 22, 2019
From Captain & Chef Fern Heinig:
Tuesday was a rainy night. The rain put off some of our usual guests so we did not have a full house, only nineteen guests. However, five additional guests did ask for take-away, which we were able to provide (as usual).
MESH Report Sept 24, 2019
From Captain Fern Heinig:
The Carole Starr MESH Cafe at Shomrei was open for business Tuesday night and served thirty meals. We had 24 guests in house and prepared 6 take away meals. Amongst our guests, we had one vegetarian (though he did eat fish) and two of our take aways were non fish vegetarian.
As you can see from the picture of the cooking/serving crew, we had a very large and dedicated crew. We would like to welcome new Shomrei member Jean Thaler, better known as JT. Thank you JT for volunteering and hope your first experience will encourage you to volunteer again.
MESH Report 4/30/2019
Report from Captain Fern Heinig:
The Carol Starr MESH Cafe served 22 very grateful guests. Not only did our guests leave with a full stomach but our volunteers left with a full heart. Teen volunteers thanked me for “allowing” them to donate their time to help cook and serve. Adult volunteers took out calendars so they could commit to the next night to volunteer. Captain Fern left feeling like the world could be repaired after how grateful our volunteers were for the opportunity to cook and serve our guests Continue reading