Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Stanislaus County January 9, 2012: Homeless Dinner

[The pictures are below the article.]

We prepared and shared dinner with 160 homeless people at the Salvation Army Berberian Homeless Shelter, 9th and D, in Modesto on January 9, 2012. "Share" is the word to use, since the serving crew eats after everyone in the shelter eats (and our guests have seconds, if they want.)

The good people at the Modesto Church of the Brethren let us use their kitchen to prepare the food. It is like a restaurant kitchen, only bigger and better organized. We usually have a dozen people show up to prepare the meal, and another 10 drop off two dozen brownies, each, at church the Sunday before, or at the kitchen. Then we load the food in steam table pans and take it to the shelter, where another dozen people serve and clean up afterward.

Note 1, One of our crew has a prolific rosemary bush in his yard, so he brings a quart of minced rosemary to the kitchen. Not everyone likes that particular herb, so, we roast about 2/3rds of the pork with rosemary, and the other third without. Many of our guests take a slice of each.

Note 2, Our green beans have sautéed onions, red and yellow bell peppers and bacon bits in them; real bacon, not some gritty little soy-based product from a truck that drove past a pig on its way to the supermarket.

Some of our guests call us "The seven-course meal people", but it is really just four, if you don't count the drinks or the fruit and water. They usually eat their salad with the meal, too. Still, it's a nice meal. We try to prepare a dinner we'd be happy to serve to guests in our home.

Adlai and the string beans

Jack, Deidre, Diane and Ed stop chopping vegetables for a moment so they can mug shamelessly for the camera.

Onions and bell peppers for the string beans O'Brian.

Mary hard at work

Ted, Adlai, Dane, Richard and others serving dinner

Dane, Richard, Adlai, Kevin and others

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We are a liberal church and the only UU congregation in Stanislaus county. We serve Ceres, Denair, Escalon, Hickman, Hughson, Keyes, Manteca, Modesto, Oakdale, Patterson, Ripon, Riverbank, Salida, Turlock and Waterford. We welcome Agnostics, Atheists, Buddhists, Christians, Deists, Free-thinkers, Humanists, Jews, Pagans, Theists, Wiccans, and those who seek their own spiritual path. We welcome people without regard to race, physical ability, ethnicity or sexual orientation.