A Hearty Meal

Meatloaf and Baked Potato

Orange Chicken, Rice and Vegetables.

Guests at today's Wednesday Community Meal were treated to hearty entrees of meatloaf, roast beef and orange chicken and we received a very sweet compliment.

"You made me feel like I was eating at my grandma's house," said one man as he was leaving.

I'm so happy that he felt that way because it's exactly what we aim to do each week — Serve a pleasing meal in warm and friendly environment. We want the community meal to feel homey and comfortable because that's what our guests, especially the homeless, need and deserve.

We made the meatloaf from scratch with Cascade Farms Beef donated by SP Provisions and the roast beef and orange chicken were donated by Good Samaritan Hospital. The generosity of these and other local businesses allows us to feed the hundreds who come to our door each week and still keep our costs down.

We served 385 meals today.

Cold And Hungry

The Wednesday Community Meal's indispensable team of volunteer dishwashers. Thank you Steve, Jay, Bill, Kevin and Dave!

It's been an especially rough week for Portland's homeless community.

A Sunday snowstorm and ensuing freezing rain resulted in the Monday and Tuesday closures of most of our community's food agencies, including The Food Pantry at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.

So our homeless friends not only had to face harsh weather conditions, they had to face food scarcity for days. 

It was such a relief to wake up this morning to clear roads and know that The Wednesday Community Meal would happen. Our guests needed us. 

"Thank for for what you do, I was really hungry," said one of our guests as he was leaving today.  I am so happy that we were able to help.

I am also thankful for all of our dedicated volunteers who each Wednesday cook, serve, clean and wash dishes. It takes many hands to pull off an "everyone is welcome," free meal and we are blessed to have the help of so many nice volunteers.

We served 296 meals today.

Escaping The Rain

We tend to serve fewer guests at The Wednesday Community Meal when it's raining.

My theory is that those with housing or in a shelter opt to skip the wet trek to Trinity Episcopal Cathedral and stay inside and dry. It's primarily our homeless guests who join us rain or shine.


There's been record breaking rain in Portland this week and our lower 251 meal number reflected that.

One guest who takes the time to visit with me for a few minutes each Wednesday said, "This rain has been really hard on me." And then he politely asked, "Do you think I could have some extra food to go?" I was happy to oblige since we had plenty and we were also granting requests for seconds in the dining room.

Our aim at the meal is always, if we have the food, let's do our best to accommodate everyone.

Most of the guests who joined us today got an Italian sausage on a roll with sides of baked potatoes, coleslaw and roasted apples. Later guests were served entrees of steak and mushrooms, chili rellenos and orange chicken. Everyone was also offered soup, salad, dessert and drinks.

A lunch ready to be served.  Since the baked potatoes were small, guests got two.

The desserts we served were donated by Trader Joe's and New Seasons Market.

Great Volunteers

We didn't have as many volunteers as usual at The Wednesday Community Meal today but it all worked out thanks to a small but great group of people. Together we served 405 meals during our two hour service.

Guests today were treated to entrees of roasted pork loin, turkey breast, enchiladas, salmon, baked potatoes topped with chili and cheese and pizza. There was also soup, salad and dessert. We had just enough food for everyone who came to our door.

During most of the service, there was a line to get inside and we were so busy that by the time our doors closed at 1 p.m.,  I realized I had forgotten to snap any photos. So, at the end of our service, I  asked a few of our hard working volunteers to pose for me...

Fred puts in more volunteer hours than anyone.  He organizes all of the gleaning for the meal and does much of the gleaning himself. He also attends all of the organizational meetings and manages the dining room. I love working with him.

Ava and Jack are fun and so capable. Ava was in charge of desserts today and Jack worked in the kitchen plating food.

Dan works with Dean each week serving coffee, hot chocolate and tea in the dining room. It's not easy work and keeps him on his feet for a solid two hours straight. He is a dedicated volunteer and I don't know what we'd do without him.

Thank You Trader Joe's!

Today's lunch of roast beef, rice and seasoned tomatoes and cucumber.

The majority of the food we served today at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral's Wednesday Community Meal was kindly donated by Trader Joe's on NW Glisan Street. The store gave us six small beef roasts and more than 40 packages of pastrami and thinly sliced roast beef, expensive proteins that helped us serve 314 meals for under 80-cents each.

We served the tender roast to the first group of guests who were seated, with sides of rice and sliced and seasoned tomatoes and cucumber. The very first guest in line had been waiting since 7 a.m. this morning so it felt great to treat him to a wonderful lunch.

Pastrami and roast beef sandwiches topped with sauerkraut and cheese came later during the two-hour lunch service and were also well-received in the dining room.  We served them alongside crispy oven-roasted potatoes that we seasoned with garlic, oregano, chili powder, salt and pepper.

The sandwiches we served today came with a side of crispy oven-roasted potatoes.

Also on the menu today were teriyaki chicken skewers, baked white fish, pork tenderloin, sliced beef over rice and salmon burgers that we topped with tartar sauce, capers and fresh dill. Utilizing primarily donated food to feed a crowd is always a challenge but it's a satisfying one. It means we have to be creative and change our menu frequently to use what we have but the extra work is worth it —  it saves money and stops perfectly good food from going to waste. And, the very best part is that we made a lot of hungry people happy today.


 

Hungry Guests

Andy and Terri assembling quesadillas.

The last week of the month is typically our busiest at The Wednesday Community Meal and today was no exception since it was not only the last, but a rare fifth Wednesday. At the end of our two hour service we had served 457 meals, the busiest we've been this year.

The line to get into the meal was long, running through the courtyard of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral and all the way out to the sidewalk on NW 19th Ave. After the first hour, we had already served nearly 300 people. Our guests were very hungry today and very appreciative.

The first entree we served was homemade frittata filled with toasted bread, tomatoes, onions and herbs and then we moved onto chicken, lasagna, fish and finally quesadillas filled with refried beans, cheese and topped with homemade salsa.

A serving of homemade frittata.

Guests were also offered soup, salad and dessert. The latter was extra special since volunteer Cindy made mini cheesecakes. I think cheesecake has to be our guests' favorite dessert and it's something we don't get to serve very often so it was a wonderful treat.

Volunteers Isla Blue and Mimi serving dessert.

Recognizing Our High School Volunteers

I had to keep Cheryl in this picture of our high school volunteers who helped today — Zane, Sierra, Sam, Micah, Ava and Ian. She gathered them together for the photo and I love the look on her face. It perfectly shows how proud we are of every single one of them and will miss them when they head back to school next week.

At the Wednesday Community Meal today we had to bid farewell to our fantastic high school volunteers since they'll be back in school next week.

It's been an exceptionally busy summer at the meal and quite frankly I don't know what we would have done without their help. Today we served 429 meals during our two hour service and there was a constant line to get inside — every volunteer was indispensable.

My friend Cheryl told me today, "Heidi, it's so hard to see them go, I've enjoyed working with them so much."

When I got home from the meal today, Cheryl sent me this e-mail that I want to share:

Heidi,  I just felt I needed to write some thoughts about the teens and I put this together. 

Today we celebrated the end of summer but more importantly we had a send-off to our teen volunteers.  This group of eight have consistently come for more than five years helping in our kitchen.  What a help they all have been: chopping, carving, making biscuits, checking the oven, prepping desserts, etc.  We are so grateful of their time, energy and willingness to pitch in and do whatever they are asked. This summer I have truly looked forward to the time we have with them: sharing what they did for vacation, learning about their families, what activities they will be doing at school and what their hopes are for after graduation.  Our photo has six teens (Nick and Eleanor are missing).  Four will be seniors, two are sophomores and two are freshmen this year. It has been truly a fun summer for me and a joy to share this time.  Today we celebrated not only their volunteer time but all our faithful volunteers with ice cream ( Sam chose the flavor - a yummy white chocolate raspberry!) and cake.  It was bittersweet for me and I will be missing them all next Wednesday!

The cake and ice cream for our volunteers

It's so hard to believe how fast the time has flown. It's been an honor getting to know our young volunteers, working with them and watching them grow.

All of them have kind hearts and an enthusiastic willingness to help that confirms my hope that they will continue to volunteer throughout their lives.