It’s sad to say that in recent weeks the request for meals from MESH which supples meals to the food insecure population off Montclair has risen from 30 to 50 per week.
Today’s team of Co-chairs Aileen Grossberg and Lynne Kurzweil, ably assisted by faithful volunteer Susan Rosenblatt, valiantly produced 50 tasty, filling meals. Our wonderful custodian Carlos helped us leave the kitchen as spotless as it was when we began.
Master Chef Joan Zief cooked up a down home feast for 32 of our MESH guests. Along with Sous Chef, Lynne Kurzweil, the main dish included tilapia with a roasted garlic and herb panko crust, homemade baked macaroni and cheese and sautéed greens (collard and mustard). Rounding out the meal was a slice of whole grain bread, clementines, cookies, peanuts, taffy, a water bottle and a breakfast bar for the morning. Continue reading
This week our MESH guests were treated to Fern’s Mediterranean Salmon Feast. As you might know, once each month Fern prepares the meal for 30 in her home kitchen and brings it all to the Shomrei kitchen around 1:00pm on Tuesday. Continue reading
Even though Meny from Marcel is catering meals for MESH this Tuesday, Shomrei provided supplemental food for MESH guests on Monday. Tasty leftovers from last week’s kiddish were packed up and transported by yours truly and warmly welcomed by Patricia Diaz, MESH staffer who was thrilled to have extra food to distribute. There was tuna fish salad, macaroni & cheese, whitefish salad, penne with broccoli, fruit salad, yummy looking brownies and crumb cake. Many thanks to the families who sponsored the kiddish with the added blessing of being able to care for members of our community. Continue reading
“Our goal is to create a beloved community and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.” Dr. Martin Luther King.
When I walk into Shomrei, enter the lobby and climb the stairs for services, I have a “life is good” kind of feeling, That powerful sense of connection is strengthened when I volunteer and one of my favorite forms of volunteering is ushering. I get to say hello to people I know, people I haven’t seen in a while, and introduce myself to people I don’t know. The experience of being connected is joyous. Continue reading
A semi homemade meal was on the menu this past Tuesday. Chef Lynne, along with co-chefs Aileen Grossberg and Alex Kent, prepared Fish Fillets with Cheesy Mashed potatoes and Aileen’s made from scratch Apple Coleslaw. A colorful and healthy Fresh Fruit Salad, hearty long roll, 6 Oreo cookies, a breakfast bar and water bottle. Regular teen helper, Jaden, was on hand to help portion and pack. In spite of a few kitchen snafus, the 30 meals were ready for transport by Lynne to The Office at 4:50pm.
Our MESH guests were once again treated to a meal of barbeque chicken and roasted potatoes, this time with a side of chopped salad. For the three vegetarian meals, we warmed up leftover mini-quiches and cheese kugel from last Saturday’s kiddush. Continue reading
The Shomrei MESH A Team was at it again on Tuesday! Aileen Grossberg, Lynne Kurzweil, Alex Kent, Susan Rosenblatt and Shomrei Teen Jaden shopped, prepped, cooked, packed and delivered a simple, nourishing, filling and, most important, tasty hot meal for 30 MESH guests meeting at the former location of The Office on Bloomfield Avenue.
Shomrei was abuzz this past Sunday. The Social Hall and Gallery were packed with multigenerational families crafting, bouncing, playing, munching. In the kitchen, the Purim carnival team was heating up pizza on the dairy side and on the meat side the Lefkowitz Family was cooking up a feast for MESH. First time MESH volunteers Vicki, Allen, Alex, Max and Shomrei friend, Ben, prepared a hearty and healthy meal in true Shomrei style. On Tuesday, our guests feasted on Vegetarian Chili over Rice, Spring Mix Salad with Carrots, Pepper and Tomatoes, homemade Cornbread, homemade Brownies, Clementines, Granola Bar and Hamentaschen. Lynne, Aileen and super teen helper, Jaden, warmed up, portioned and packed and Lynne delivered the meals to The Office. Yasher Koach to the Lefkowitz family for helping to perform this important mitzvah! Continue reading
Help Us Help Local Refugees
In early 2017, Nick Levitin and Andy Silver started Shomrei’s Refugee Assistance Group in reaction to the massive influx of Syrian refugees to our area. The response from our group, which consists of roughly 50 members from the Shomrei community was, and continues to be, overwhelming, enabling us to assist refugees from a wide variety of countries. However, the needs, too, are overwhelming; wars, natural disasters, and government repression and persecution continue to cause mass worldwide migrations of people, many seeking refuge in our region.
To help meet those needs, we invite those who are not yet in our group to join us. Continue reading