My Friends Forever

Trinity Episcopal Cathedral's Wednesday Community Meal is very special. It's a place full of love and compassion, where friends work side by side to prepare and serve a meal to friends in need.

Everyone is invited inside to sit, relax and eat.  The meal is free, no questions asked and everyone is treated with kindness and respect.

It's been an important part of my life since 2004. In the beginning it was just my friend Fred and I handing out sack lunches. Later, with Trinity's support, it evolved to be a hot lunch in a take out box and finally in 2008, a four course meal served inside beautiful Kempton Hall.

Inviting our guests inside changed everything. It was the right thing to do. It enabled us to spend more time with our guests and we got to know and love them. They are real people. They are fathers, mothers, daughters and sons and they shouldn't have to suffer.  They deserve to eat and enjoy delicious and nutritious food and they deserve respite from the heat in the summer and the cold in the winter. 

Today was my last day at the meal and I am going to miss everyone so much. Volunteering has enriched my life in so many ways. I feel incredibly blessed to have been able to be a part of such a special program. Being with my friends each Wednesday is something I looked forward to and something I will miss terribly.

I am moving to Connecticut in June with my family but I will never forget my family at The Wednesday Community Meal.


Here are my teammates who served 287 meals today:

Linda

Ione

Tiffany

Mary

Jay

Steve

Linda

Barbara

Sandy

Veronica

Craig (He's always making us laugh.)

Frank, Barbara, Helen and Diane

Bill and Kevin

Dave

Fred

Cindy

Martha

John and Leah

Dan and Dean

Virgina

Anne

Kate

Gwen

Davis

Ann

Vicky and Joyce

Mary (She has been such a wonderful support to me. Mary is the very first volunteer to arrive and gets us started each week, moving our ingredients from our downstairs pantry into the kitchen.)

Dishwasher Appreciation

Our super dishwashing team in a photo taken a few weeks ago, in happier times. Clockwise from the back left is Steve, Jay, Bill, Kevin and Dave.

No one works harder at The Wednesday Community Meal than our team of volunteer dishwashers. Every Wednesday, they are among the first to arrive and the very last to leave.

Early in the morning, at 7:30 a.m., the pots and pans from the meal preparations start heading their way. And then, once the meal is served at 11 a.m., things get even busier because it's bus tub after bus tub of dirty dishes and silverware in addition to more pots and pans.

They are invaluable and I am grateful for their hard work and dedication.

Especially after today, I owe Bill, Jay, Dave, Steve, Kevin and Joe a debt of gratitude.

You see, we served ribs, lots of delicious ribs, ten pans full. We baked the ribs in a tomatoeye sauce and after such a long time in the oven, the pans were a real mess. The ribs were delicious, but the pans were atrocious and took lots of extra time and effort to clean.

I really wouldn't have blamed the dishwashers if they walked off the job and right out the door.  Thankfully, they didn't. They were really nice and I owe them big time and no sticky food next week.

We served 354 meals today.

Many Meals

Longtime community meal volunteer Mary Ann with a meatloaf meal. She and all of the other dining room volunteers are amazing! Serving nonstop for two hours is hard work but they do it while smiling and taking the time to visit with our guests and make them feel welcome.

It was another very busy day at the Wednesday Community Meal. We served 372 meals during our two hour service at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Northwest Portland.

The entrees we served were meatloaf, pork spare ribs, pork short ribs, enchiladas, chile rellenos and vegetarian lasagna. It's typical that we change our menu at least three or four times during the meal because that's just what you have do do when you utilize gleaned and donated food to feed a crowd.

The pork short ribs were particularly popular with today's guests and were actually short rib trimmings that were donated by SP Provisions. We seasoned them with chili powder, cumin, garlic, salt and oregano, moistened them with a bit of tomato sauce and cooked them long and slow until they were very very tender. The meat pieces might not have been uniform in size but they were darn delicious and there were many requests for seconds.

In additon to the entrees, there was soup, salad and dessert — a full four-course meal,  free to everyone, no questions asked.

One of the side dishes we served today was roasted red potatoes with caramelized Walla Walla Sweet onions. The potatoes were gleaned from The Oregon Food Bank and the onions were gleaned from New Seasons Market.

Our dishwashing team is the best! They are the last to leave after a long day's work but never complain and even seem to have some fun. Craig helped keep things especially light today with his green hairdo in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

Mixing It Up!

A serving of the chili we made today.

One of the most popular entrees at today's The Wednesday Community Meal was created by just mixing up small amounts of food gleaned from Good Samaritan Hospital to create a large amount of something new.

That something new was a hearty chili and we made it from small portions of shredded pork, sliced beef, black beans and corn that was all donated by the hospital. 

After looking our gleaned ingredients and doing a little brainstorming,  my fellow volunteer Mary and I decided it would be most practical to combine all of them with some more beans and canned tomatoes from our pantry to make a big single dish. We also seasoned it with chili powder, garlic powder and ground cumin.

So what initially looked like small amounts of food suddenly became a big pan of a meaty and flavorful chili that we heated, served over rice and topped with peppers, green onions and shredded cheese.

It really is a great feeling when you not only save perfectly good food from going to waste but you create a delicious new dish. 

We served 413 meals today.

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.

Super Sweet Potatoes

When I spotted Dean, our volunteer dining room barista, by the kitchen window, I couldn't resist convincing him to pose for a quick picture.  I love his smile and positive energy.  Serving coffee and hot chocolate nonstop for two hours straight is hard work.

It was a busy day at The Wednesday Community Meal. We served 395 meals during our two hour service and everyone who came to eat received a delicious and well-balanced meal.

One of the highlights of the meal were the roasted and mashed sweet potatoes that we served as a side dish. The potatoes came from the Oregon Food Bank and volunteer Kate suggested and took on preparing them my now new favorite way.

Prepping potatoes usually eats up a lot of time, so to make things easier, Kate suggested we just wash, cut them in half and bake them cut side down on a parchment lined sheetpan. Her method worked worked like a charm. The potatoes were soft and caramelized when we pulled them out of the oven and then all we had to do was let them cool for a bit and scoop out the sweet flesh.

Then we mashed them with a bit of butter, salt, pepper and fresh parsley. They were soooo gooood!

The sweet potatoes after baking.

After the baked potatoes cooled for a bit, it was easy to scoop the flesh out of the skin. Look at that caramelized goodness! I love Kate's method!

Our main entrees today were pork loin, barbecue chicken, chicken curry, baked fish, chili rellenos, vegetarian lasagna and hot dogs. We had to change our menu in order to utilize all of the week's gleaned food. Making do with what we get is a challenge that keeps us on our toes, but it is the right thing to do because we save perfectly good food from going to waste.

A meal of roasted pork loin, mixed rice, roasted zucchini and tomato. We always strive to serve meals that are both nutritious and delicious.

I also have to give a special shout out to longtime and very dedicated volunteers Leah and Martha. They were absolutely indispensable in the kitchen today. We were short on volunteers so unassisted, they prepared and dished up every single bowl of soup and plate of salad that left the kitchen today. They worked nonstop for more than five hours and just wow! —I am so grateful.

Serving Shelter

The view of the dining room from the kitchen during our last half hour of service. I was so happy to see my friend Bob seated closest to the kitchen so that I could smile and wave at him. We've been friends for more than 16 years.

So far this year, Portland's weather has been very hard on the homeless. Last week it was snow and ice and this week it's been rain, nonstop rain.

Those who joined us at the Wednesday Community Meal today seemed to be seeking shelter just as much as a hot meal because they lingered longer than usual in the dining room. The tables cleared up slowly and there was a constant line to get in throughout most of our two hour lunch service.

But who can blame our guests for staying inside as long as possible? The wet weather has been miserable and Trinity Episcopal Cathedral's Kempton Hall is a beautiful, warm and comfortable place to eat.

We served 310 meals today and helped a lot of cold and wet folks warm up. 

Our entrees were crispy oven-baked chicken and homemade meat loaf. We also served soup, salad, dessert and lots and lots of hot chocolate and coffee.

Meatloaf was one of today's entrees.

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.

Chop, Chop, Chop

Volunteers Leo, Helen and Steve worked nonstop in the dining room today.

Gosh it took a lot of chopping to prepare today's Wednesday Community Meal. I am so thankful for all of the volunteers who helped because we served one labor intensive lunch,  and it was a very busy day. We served 443 meals during our two hour service.

The line for the meal started forming early, just after 8 a.m. and by the time our doors opened at 11 a.m., it went all the way through the courtyard of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral and out to the sidewalk on NW 19th. I think everyone was just happy that there was a break from days of rain and anxious for the opportunity to sit and eat inside.

There just was so much prep work to be done. There was the bread that needed to be cut for the croutons, vegetables that needed to be chopped for the salads, oranges that needed to be sliced as a side and then there were the ingredients for our main dish.

We made a flavorful saute of Italian sausages, zucchini, onions, tomato and beans that we served over pasta and rice. The dish was our own creation, utilizing the ingredients we had on hand and we made enough of it to serve more than 400.

Just the chopping of the zucchini and onions took more than an hour and a half and for nearly an hour,  there were five volunteers in the kitchen just vigorously cutting the five cases of Italian sausages that were donated by Lift Urban Portland.

We topped our creation with shredded Parmesan.

The dining room volunteers and dishwashers worked nonstop too and deserve kudos. The Wednesday Community Meal really is a team effort and I know our guests are thankful for it.   


 

Handmade Scarves

Volunteers Sam, Justine, Martha and Leah modeling scarves made by Chieko.

Guests at today's Wednesday's Community Meal at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral were gifted handmade scarves all lovingly knitted and donated by a wonderful woman named Chieko who is the mother of volunteer Nancy. 

It was such a generous gift and everyone enjoyed choosing their scarf from the large array of choices. It was so kind of Chieko to make them for our guests and I can't even begin to imagine the hours of knitting that she must have put in to make them.

Look at all of the scarves Chieko made! And that's not even all of them — there are more in the bag under the table. This photo was taken by volunteer J. Anderson who laid all of them out and oversaw their distribution.

We served 349 meals during our two hour service today and our entrees were also extra special because of a generous donation of chicken quarters and legs of lamb from Lift Urban Portland. Alongside the chicken and lamb, we served mashed potatoes and gravy and peas and carrots — Real comfort food that pleased our guests.

A baked chicken meal.

A roasted leg of lamb meal.

Tortellini For Everyone

Guests at today's Wednesday Community Meal enjoyed lots of pasta thanks to a donation of 12 cases of Buitoni Tortellini.

We cooked seven of the cases today and had plenty for everyone and even some leftover that we packaged up for our guests to take with them. One guest hollered out to me when he saw me in the dining room, "Hey Heidi, thanks for lunch and dinner!" I'm just glad that nothing went to waste. We froze the remaining five cases of tortellini and will utilize them in a future meal.

After boiling all of the pasta (Thank you Sam for taking on the tough task!), we tossed it in a homemade sauce filled with tomatoes, ground beef, sauteed onion, zucchini, artichokes, garlic and herbs. It turned out delicious and we received many nice compliments from our guests. Alongside the pasta we served garlic toast, roasted vegetables and melon. The bread for the toast was donated by Grand Central Bakery, the vegetables came from the Oregon Food Bank and the melon was gleaned from the recently opened New Seasons Market in NW Portland. 

It's always a surprise discovering what ingredients we have to work with and I'm grateful for the work of our gleaners and the donations we receive which help offset the cost of feeding hundreds each week.

Trinity Episcopal Cathedral has been so supportive and purchases any additional ingredients and supplies that we need to pull the meal together. It takes a lot of planning and work but everything always comes together thanks to our dedicated volunteers. We served 384 meals today.