Local student Mia has been making beautiful valentines for the past few years to gift to our Community Kitchen guests who join us for lunch and dinner on Valentine’s Day.

This summer, she wanted to make her own Roots & Shoots project, addressing conservation and the environment while focusing on humanitarianism (which has been challenging for an 11 year old!). She found an idea online, and added some inspirational sayings on the sweet candy butterfly wings.

Mia enjoys helping people and knows spreading kindness and being nice makes people feel good. We are grateful for our littlest helpers and knowing that people like Mia are here, sharing kindness and joy in our community. Thank you, Mia!

It’s always great when group projects work out well! When we announced in late spring that our Community Kitchen was in need of volunteers to provide dinner for dates this summer, we were fortunate that our call was answered by so many generous friends.

In addition to the individuals who signed up to help cover summer meals, we also had a few groups raise their hands to help – church groups, book clubs and friend groups. In particular was a group of friends who met when their children were in elementary school and this is the third summer where they collaborated to provide a meal. While it’s fun to make a meal together, sometimes the reality of that actually happening is impossible. That’s when it comes to group project time! 24 lbs of BBQ pulled chicken, rolls, a tray of roasted veggies, a huge salad with all the fixings, 3 trays of pasta salad, homemade cookies and lemonade made up the meal to serve 50 people on June 12. Thanks so much to Tracey Altieri, Heather Arabadjis (+ special helpers), Liz Chatel (+ special helpers), Carla & Mike Patrona (+ special helper) and Sonal Rajan for making a delicious meal for our Community Kitchen.

We share this story because it is so much easier to make a meal or part of a meal when coordinating with friends. If you’re interested in doing so for a meal in the future, please email us at [email protected]. We will respond with further details and answer any of your questions. We serve lunch and dinner, Monday through Friday, throughout the year at the Community Kitchen. All of these meals are donated and served by volunteers. We are always in need of meals throughout the year, and unfortunately the number of guests who dine with us continues to rise. Thank you for helping feed our neighbors in need!