Tuesday, June 1, 2021
Common Table—Silver Lining
Sue Nalewajk
Common Table Hot Lunch Ministry
So, you just got home from work (or an errand) and the kids (or your spouse) walk in and shout, “What’s for dinner. I’m starved!” You haven’t even thought about making dinner yet. But just think, you only have to cook for two (three, or four, maybe). At Common Table, we cook for 120 every time we make lunch. That’s a lot of beef stew!
“How do we do this?” you might ask. Common Table (CT) has an amazing community of volunteers, not just parishioners from St. John’s, who do their part to make sure that lunch is served every Thursday. Let me give you some examples:
There is a group of rotating cooks (the cook-du-jour) who make a menu for each meal, do the shopping for that food and then supervise its preparation at the St. John’s kitchen. Cooking beef stew, for example, requires 40 pounds of beef roast, 10 pounds of potatoes, 15 pounds of carrots, and lots of other ingredients to make a tasty pot of stew.
Then there are the sous chefs, a team of volunteers or worker bees, who come and do the work that the cook-du-jour requires - chopping, mixing, tasting (somebody has to do quality control!), slicing, cleaning (yes, these volunteers do the dishes, too), packing the lunch bags, and whatever else is needed.
The CT lunches always include dessert. Desserts are prepared by a group of dedicated bakers, each bringing about three dozen cookies on their assigned lunch date.
Our pantry is stocked with staples such as oil, vinegar, spices, chicken/beef stock, coffee, water, etc. The volunteer pantry czar keeps an inventory of these goods for us to use.
Since the onset of Covid, we have suspended serving a sit-down lunch in Thaxter Hall, but instead have a drive-through system for distributing a bagged meal. Each meal is packed by volunteers in a paper lunch bag and includes an entrée (like beef stew or maybe an Italian sub), a side (such as a salad or soup), water, fruit, dessert, napkin/plasticware and wipes. As each guest drives or walks up to the designated pick-up point in St. John’s lower parking lot, a volunteer hands them a lunch (or two) and offers them a cup of hot coffee. The guest is welcome to take this lunch home or to eat in the parking lot.
CT is blessed with volunteers who deliver lunches to the homes of several of St. John‘s parishioners and other members of the community. This is a way to offer fellowship, as well as provide a meal, especially important during this time of Covid isolation. Please note that we are anxious to return to serving lunch in Thaxter Hall, offering a place of comfort and warmth, literally and figuratively. Some of our guests come to CT more for the fellowship than the meal, but then we humans need sustenance in many forms. Even the volunteers receive more than they give by knowing that their neighbors are cared for.
If you’re wondering how you learn to cook for 120 people, or become a worker bee, or deliver meals to your neighbors, please know that we have on-the-job training. You’ll be paired with a volunteer to get started and paid in heaven. We’d welcome anyone wanting to try their hand at being the cook-du-jour for a meal this summer. Call me to schedule a Thursday with us.
Any left-over CT lunches are brought by another volunteer to Gather for distribution to their shoppers.
That’s the mechanics of Common Table. Now I’d like to address the rest of the “stuff” that happens at CT, the second part of the question posed at the beginning of this reflection, “What’s for dinner. I’m starved!”
“I’m starved.” This thought really struck home one day at CT. One of our guests asked for two lunches. Because we don’t ask questions on how many lunches a guest needs, we just gave him two lunches. After he sat in the parking lot and devoured these lunches, he came back and asked for another, commenting that this was the first food he had eaten in three days.
Weather permitting, we put out clothing from Common Sense. Guests are welcome to help themselves to whatever is put out - jackets, shirts, bags, etc.
A social worker comes and offers services.
Some members of the community simple drive by to offer a financial donation in support of the CT efforts.
The Families First Health Van comes to the St. John’s lower parking lot to address any guest’s medical needs.
Recently, the City of Portsmouth has arranged with the National Guard to offer Covid vaccinations at St. John’s during CT. No appointment necessary.
St. John’s clergy are also available for one-on-one conversation.
Matthew 6:3 reminds us how to give to the needy, “When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” CT is such a large and diverse network of worker bees, it’s hard to think about each of us knowing what the other hand is doing. We are just volunteers wanting to make a difference, willing to lend a hand knowing that many hands do indeed make light work. Truly, CT has more than five loaves of bread and two fishes to offer. Join us for lunch any Thursday.