RFM joins other houses of worship in Rockland County to house a few members of our larger community who seek a safe place to sleep and a warm meal through the organization, Helping Hands of Rockland. When we host guests from Helping Hands, an average of 40 individuals seek shelter in our Meetinghouse and are provided a nutritious meal in accordance with the Quaker tenets of COMMUNITY and STEWARDSHIP.
Earlier this winter, Eric answered the call to serve dinner one evening. Unbeknownst to him (he had just started attending Meeting with us), he didn't know that we host up to 40 guests. He thought he could just prepare a few roast chickens and vegetables... for, like, 10 guests. Thankfully, he found out that he had to prepare for 40, so he took the initiative to raise funds through a GoFundMe page, with the goal of raising $350 to cater a meal with prepared food purchased from Costco. Well, he raised over $600 through a targeted and successful campaign on his social media platforms; that's enough to cater TWO meals. (The next meal will be sometime this Fall when Helping Hands returns to RFM for a few days.)
Menu: 20 rotisserie chickens (carved by Eric's parents and separated between dark and white meats), kale salad, sauteed broccoli and sauteed haricot vert, macaroni & cheese, and to sweeten the meal at the end, trays of fresh fruit and an assortment of cookies. (Keeping with the tenet of Stewardship of environment, we saved the carcasses of the rotisserie chickens and offered them to the members and attenders of RFM to use to make chicken broth. All 20 were claimed!)
Here are some pictures of the dinner Eric catered, with the assistance of Kara, Ethan, and Karl. Many of the guests expressed their gratitude for the wholesome meal.
