Seder Means Order

IMG_1856The 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.

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MESH Report Mar 24, 2020

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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.

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MESH Report Feb 25, 2020

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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.

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MESH Report Jan 28, 2020

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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.

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MESH Report Dec 17, 2019

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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).

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MESH Report Sept 24, 2019

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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.

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MESH Report 4/30/2019

Fern Mesh 1Report 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