An Easter Lunch

Longtime volunteer Dorrie ready to serve two plates of Black Forest ham and mashed potatoes at the start of today's meal.

We served a special Easter lunch today at The Wednesday Community Meal and our guests loved it. Everyone was treated to a meal of premium Black Forest ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, baked apples and soft white rolls along with soup, salad and apple crisp for dessert.

But that's not all, there was a special welcome and prayer led by Rev. Jim Bethell, music courtesy of our volunteer piano player Sandy Norcross and Easter candy handed out by our wonderful Listening Post volunteers who went table to table with Easter baskets.

One of our regular guests told me today, "Holidays are especially hard because I'm alone but being here makes me feel better. Everyone is so nice to me."

Being a part of the Wednesday Community Meal makes me feel better too. Volunteering each week grounds me and helps me put my life and my needs in perspective.

Can you imagine not having a home? — No place to sleep, get clean, go to the bathroom or keep your things?  A few years ago, I walked out to my car after volunteering and saw a guest shaving his face in the parking lot, peering into a broken full-length mirror that was leaning against a building.

"It's my lucky day, I'm so glad this mirror is here," he told me.  It was an image and a statement that I'll never forget and reminds me to be more appreciative of comforts in my life that are so easy to take for granted.

With the support of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, The Wednesday Community Meal has become a much needed place of comfort and weekly respite for so many.  It's a place to be greeted, feel welcomed, cared for and nourished. We served 359 meals today.

Fred, who is a founder and organizer of the Wednesday Community Meal, shopping at Cash 'n' Carry this past Tuesday for ingredients. That day, we also picked up our special order of Black Forest ham from SP Provisions.

Andy slicing ham with Leah and Martha supervising.  These three volunteers are kitchen VIPs. They are among the first to arrive in the morning and work nonstop until the end of service. And, they are a lot of fun!

Today's dessert was homemade apple crisp made by volunteer Cheryl. It was delicious!

A Special Easter Lunch

Today's lunch.

We celebrated Easter a few days early at The Wednesday Community Meal by serving a special lunch of glazed ham, mashed potatoes with country gravy, green beans with caramelized onions and soft dinner rolls.

Volunteer Charyl brought flowers and candy for the tables. We wanted our guests to feel treated and know that this was a special Easter meal planned just for them.

The glazed spiral-cut hickory-smoked hams were a huge hit.

Vounteer Davis was on ham carving duty today and did a great job.

But that's not all, we also had soup, salad and chocolate chip cheesecake for dessert. Needless to say our guests were very very happy.

Volunteers Linda and Mary Ann adding slices of fresh strawberries to the mini chocolate chip cheesecakes.

The guest loved the cheesecakes. Volunteer Cheryl baked every single one of them and brought them to the meal.

We were also lucky to have some extra help from 18 8th graders from the Creative Science School. The young workers sure impressed all of us regular volunteers with their energy, willingness to help and hard work. But what I love the most is that they were kind and caring to our guests and took turns sitting down to eat and visit with them.

Calvin and Casey eating lunch with our guests.

The dish washing crew lead by Dave was very happy to have the help of Alex and McKenzie today.

Ruby and Jem were pros in the kitchen. Ruby served drinks and Jem ladled on gravy and passed plates to the dining room servers.

It was a busy but very satisfying day. We served 420 meals today and hopefully made a difference in our community.