The 3 C's of Community Harvest

This week, I am going to elaborate on the 3 C's of Community Harvest: Cornbread, Chili, and Cobbler. It is rare for all 3 C's to make an appearance in any given week at Community Harvest, but when they do, the joy is unmistakable.

1. Cornbread
The process of making delicious cornbread requires a combination of skilled mixing and ingenious combinations. Who would have thought mixing canned corn with cornbread mix, water, and butter would have such a desirable effect? That's where the brains behind the ingenious combinations came in handy (which I take no credit for). As far as skilled mixing goes, Carly and I were eager to lend a hand.

And the result? Pure, corny paradise.

 2. Chili
I spoke a little of ingenious combinations when I discussed cornbread. But chili, my friends, takes ingenious mixing to a whole other level. This week's chili was a blend of veggies, beans, and meat, cooked to perfection in a Community-Harvest-sized stew pot.

 3. Cobbler
Last, and most certainly not least, we have our infamous street cobbler. We have a rule of "no cobbler left behind" at Community Harvest and trust me, it's no tough bargain. But, the process of peeling apples and spreading cherries underneath of layer of sugary, buscuity goodness is not always an easy task. However, this week Liz stepped up on cobbler duty and did a great job!

And of course the most important C, which I have not yet mentioned, is Community. We couldn't make it happen without our wonderful volunteers and our hungry dinner guests, all with smiling faces. Thanks to the Bucknell Tour Guides for lending plenty of helping hands our way this week!

We are the chosen ones!

I am happy to report that Company B from Management 101 has chosen Community Harvest and the Community Garden for their service project this semester! Company B's mission is "to increase the availability of fresh, healthy, low-cost food to families of the local community by assisting with the gardening of fresh produce at the Lewisburg Community Garden and donating time and labor to Community Harvest’s hot meal program in Milton." They plan on selling tank tops and sunglass straps to fundraise. We are excited to start working with the Management 101 students!

This week's meal featured grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken noodle soup, crackers, mixed veggies, and applesauce. Making grilled cheese sandwiches is a multi-step process, that requires skilled volunteers like the ones pictured below.

First, the bread is prepped with butter and cheese.

 Then, the bread is handed over to Lynn, who used her "grill skillz" to cook the sandwiches to perfection.

Don't these sandwiches look delicious?? (And, there are no Cajun-style ones this time around!)

While all that was going on in the kitchen, Carly and I got to work on the desserts. We iced chocolate and vanilla cupcakes and placed them alongside some donated "heart" cookies. Who says we can't celebrate Valentine's Day all year-round?

We had wonderful volunteers come help with serving and cleaning up.

Thanks to the Bucknell Brigade for all their hard work!

 And thanks to Chi Phi Fraternity for sending another batch of helpful (and daring) volunteers...

...who aren't afraid to try new food combinations, like hot cocoa mix and applesauce.

We had another great week at Community Harvest. Thanks again to all the volunteers, and a special thanks to Company B for making us the chosen ones! :)

Valetine's Day helpers!

On Valentine's Day members of Kappa Kappa Gamma and Sigma Phi Epsilon baked some dessert treats for the upcoming Monday meal.

A Day in the Life

I'm switching gears a little for today's blog post. I'd like to focus on one super important volunteer that the Community Harvest community has come to know and love. Some know her as Carly, but I feel like her mysterious nature makes "the girl in the yellow scarf" a more appropriate title for her. Let's see how Carly (and her yellow scarf) shed light upon Community Harvest this week.

While some volunteers were busy making rice krispy treats in the kitchen and preparing the mashed potatoes, chili, and chicken gravy for the evening's meal, I had the pleasure of inventorying the pantry with the girl in the yellow scarf. I read off the official inventory tally, and Carly (almost) effortlessly entered all of the data onto the iPad (yes, things are pretty high-tech at Community Harvest). The dedication on her face, mixed with the slight smile, shows that we are dedicated to our work, but we like to have fun. :)

This week, Carly had her hands full with volunteers from Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority and the Bucknell Brigade, eager to help anyway they could. Without a moment's hesitation, Carly assigned each volunteer a job and the serving process was underway! Pay special attention to the way she actively delegates tasks among the volunteers, keeping things running smoothly (as pictured below). Only a skilled student coordinator like the girl in the yellow scarf could keep things moving so efficiently.

When it came time to offer this week's donations at the bread table, the girl in the yellow scarf was nearby to answer any questions and make sure all dinner guests went home happy.

Even when little (or not so little) spills happen, like the one pictured below, the girl in the yellow scarf never loses her composure. It's just water and soap after all, right?

Besides, Mark (a.k.a. the man with the yellow vacuum) will have the floor cleaned up in no time.

But, it's not just me who admires the girl in the yellow scarf. She is greatly appreciated by everyone at Community Harvest.

 

(above) The March Bucknell Brigade

(below) member of Kappa Alpha Theta

 

 

 



You can't be afraid to get a little messy!

After a week off (due to freezing rain), we're happy to be back! Mark and Eddie were so excited to be back, they showed up extra early and waited for the first cars to arrive. We got right to work, preparing the ingredients for our casserole, which included some pasta, more chicken than you've ever seen in your life (not kidding, see the picture below), enough broccoli to fill a miniature forest, some veggies, and a WHOLE LOTTA CHEEEEEESE.

Now, one thing I've learned throughout my time at Community Harvest is that you have to be willing to improvise. And most importantly, you can't freak out if things get a little messy. And this week, things got messy. When dealing with the vast amount of ingredients that we had for our casserole, Carly and I decided that a spoon would be insufficient for really blending the ingredients. Instead, we used our hands.

And the result? An IRRESISTIBLE casserole. It got rave reviews from the dinner guests. And thankfully we had volunteers from a youth group in Milton helping us keep plates and bellies full.

And I can't forget about Mark, who manned the drink station, making sure that no thirst went unquenched.

As always, a big thank-you to everyone who helped make this week another successful one at Community Harvest!