With the summer winding down, the summer staff, Nick, Jasmine and Sydney are ending their time with Community Harvest. They have done a great job and they will be missed. Monday's meal was BBQ Chicken and Tator Tot Casserole- wow what a hit! Some yummy vegetables from the Lewisburg Community Garden used to make Cucumber Salad. Also, Furmano's donated 20 cases of beans and spaghetti sauce, a big thanks to them and to Nick who lugged them up to the Pantry. Furmano's has confirmed they will do their annual Holiday Dinner later this semester! Our thoughts go out to Bart, who has been under the weather lately. Our volunteer group this week was the Kingdom Kidz. Always an energetic fun group. Next week Stacey's cobber will make it's reappearance (wild applause!) along with Taco Salad and fresh Salsa made from vegetables donated by the Lewisburg Community Garden! The Bucknell Student Coordinators will be back in the next few weeks too- we are excited to welcome back Carly Chafey, Mike Morrison, Steve Lazar and Danielle Marquette!!
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Garden Vegetables!
Today we had our first taste of vegetables from the Lewisburg Community Garden! The Garden Interns, Nick, Jasmine and Sydney, worked to harvest some lettuce and radishes for the meal. The LCG will be supplying the meal with some wonderful treats throughout the summer so stay tuned. The volunteer group last night was from St. Paul's United Church of Christ- they had lots of energy!!
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Summer is upon us!
This was the first meal without our regular student volunteers, which was sad in many ways. The students add so much to the meal not only in manual labor help but with their positive energy and humor. Nonetheless, they will be back in August! It was a great night for spaghetti and meatballs with all the rain and cold weather. Also, cobbler made it's return! This made many happy. Also we are slowly making our way through the huge supply of Girl Scout Cookies. The St. Paul's UCC was a HUGE help not only with serving but set up and clean up too!
Monday, April 2, 2012
Three words: Girl. Scout. Cookies.
I knew it was going to be a good day as I loaded approximately 7 cardboard boxes full of girl scout cookies into my car and headed to Milton. With my cookies added to the collection on the counter, it was almost impossible to see out into the dining area from the kitchen. Brothers from Phi Psi helped with the set up, so I was able to offer my services in the kitchen with Lynn. My duties included pouring multiple packets of peas into a pot and then joining the grilled cheese assembly line. Once the thick slices of bread had been coated in butter and had cheese between them, they were ready for the stovetop grill. Now, an important thing to acknowledge about the grill is that it has exactly two settings: off and incinerate. Inevitably, a few of the sandwiches were burnt (or as Lynn likes to say "Cajun-style") before Stacey came to the rescue.
Now this is when Garyn, Nat, and I escaped to the pantry to date and sort canned goods (yes, it was as fun as it sounds). Upon returning to the kitchen, I am asked to peel apples, which was awesome because it just so happens that when I woke up this morning, I prayed that I would get a chance to peel and slice apples at Community Harvest today. A few minor hand cramps and a valiant team effort later, and the apples were peeled, sliced, and ready for the freezer. They have an exciting future as cobbler awaiting them next week. The cobbler has been a HUGE hit (to say the least) at Community Harvest these past few weeks. I propose we start selling "Stacey's Street Cobbler" to the world.
In other news, Mark did extremely well bowling. Bridget claims he won the competition, and he definitely has the trophies to prove it. I would like to see him enter a girl-scout-cookie-eating contest after tonight's performance. Brothers from Chi Phi showed up to help serve and clean up, which is always appreciated. Overall, it was another successful night at Community Harvest.
Now this is when Garyn, Nat, and I escaped to the pantry to date and sort canned goods (yes, it was as fun as it sounds). Upon returning to the kitchen, I am asked to peel apples, which was awesome because it just so happens that when I woke up this morning, I prayed that I would get a chance to peel and slice apples at Community Harvest today. A few minor hand cramps and a valiant team effort later, and the apples were peeled, sliced, and ready for the freezer. They have an exciting future as cobbler awaiting them next week. The cobbler has been a HUGE hit (to say the least) at Community Harvest these past few weeks. I propose we start selling "Stacey's Street Cobbler" to the world.
In other news, Mark did extremely well bowling. Bridget claims he won the competition, and he definitely has the trophies to prove it. I would like to see him enter a girl-scout-cookie-eating contest after tonight's performance. Brothers from Chi Phi showed up to help serve and clean up, which is always appreciated. Overall, it was another successful night at Community Harvest.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Back from Spring Break!
After a wonderful week of Spring Break, we’re back at
Community Harvest! And man, is it
good to be back. The
ever-surprising (and delightful!) variety of music from 102.7 is setting the
mood in the kitchen and food prep is underway. On the menu is Haddock, which has been patiently awaiting
its debut down in the freezer. The
fish is accompanied by spinach and cheese mashed potatoes, fresh salad, and
peaches. And for dessert, Stacey’s
famous cobbler will get the peeled and sliced apples out of storage. The freezer will be a lonely place
after this meal…but, as always, not for long! After spending some time preparing the food, we are all
feeling the heat, but it’s nothing a few minutes in the cool breeze outside the
kitchen can’t fix!
It’s not long before some of our regular friends make their
way into the kitchen. Mark and
Bridget are eager to share how many bags they filled at the store today, while
Eddie shows off his great bowling scores.
Helen welcomed me back with a Wal-Mart lanyard and a milk chocolate
Easter bunny. And I just
remembered that I never saw my milk chocolate bunny again after letting Mark
have a look at it – I blame myself.
Delta Gamma sorority sent a few members to help serve food,
Phi Psi picked up cleaning duty (giving me an excuse to avoid drying dishes),
and Kim stuck around to help fold up tables. It’s amazing how quickly we fall right back into the groove
of things. I can’t imagine doing
anything else with my Mondays!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Cheese, Cheese, and more Cheese
Break has been wonderful, but we are feeling a little off our groove this week. Garyn and I arrive late because of our class schedule this semester so the kids from across the street already set up the tables. (I will sorely miss setting up with them all.) Danielle is still figuring out her schedule which is keeping her on campus this week. Carly is studying abroad this semester and Angel can't come until later. I miss our old team; its not the same without everyone from last semester. But some new people have joined us as weekly set up help, which is exciting!
We meet Lynn in the kitchen and after catching up on breaks, we realize we have a problem-- what in the world do we make tonight? One of the things about a soup kitchen that most people do not think about-- bulk amounts of strange ingredients. When you open the freezer to a ton of frozen peas, walk into the dry good room to find some cans of soup and random vegetables, and the refrigerator to a couple gallons of cheese and need-to-be-used-right-now salad vegetables, what do you make? Between keeping a tight budget and accepting all kinds of donations, we often end up with an eclectic collection of food. Lynn and other volunteer cooks spend hours trying to come up with balanced and nutritious meals each week using what we have. This week-- grilled cheese. The manager of the bison came to make about 200 Bucknell-style Texas Toast Grilled Cheeses, which were absolutely delicious. That finally made a dent in our cheese collection, and the rest was thrown into a salad. Add in a couple huge cans of chicken noodle soup, and we are in business. The peas can wait until next week.
It is so good to see everyone again; all the community members are so glad to have us back. They ask all about school, classes, families, and what we did over break. I remember how much there really is a sense of community here. I am having so much fun finding out how everyone's holidays were, and what they excited for for this year. A few people did not make it this week, so I am asking their friends how they are doing. We had a pretty good turn out despite the cold weather-- just under 200 people, so there was still enough for seconds.
Everyone is finishing up, and more volunteers from ADPhi come to help with clean up, which is much appreciated. We finish up and hop into cars to jump back into the swing of the campus life of meetings, classes, and homework. I realize that Community Harvest is such a wonderful break in my Bucknell routine-- it is good to be back.
We meet Lynn in the kitchen and after catching up on breaks, we realize we have a problem-- what in the world do we make tonight? One of the things about a soup kitchen that most people do not think about-- bulk amounts of strange ingredients. When you open the freezer to a ton of frozen peas, walk into the dry good room to find some cans of soup and random vegetables, and the refrigerator to a couple gallons of cheese and need-to-be-used-right-now salad vegetables, what do you make? Between keeping a tight budget and accepting all kinds of donations, we often end up with an eclectic collection of food. Lynn and other volunteer cooks spend hours trying to come up with balanced and nutritious meals each week using what we have. This week-- grilled cheese. The manager of the bison came to make about 200 Bucknell-style Texas Toast Grilled Cheeses, which were absolutely delicious. That finally made a dent in our cheese collection, and the rest was thrown into a salad. Add in a couple huge cans of chicken noodle soup, and we are in business. The peas can wait until next week.
It is so good to see everyone again; all the community members are so glad to have us back. They ask all about school, classes, families, and what we did over break. I remember how much there really is a sense of community here. I am having so much fun finding out how everyone's holidays were, and what they excited for for this year. A few people did not make it this week, so I am asking their friends how they are doing. We had a pretty good turn out despite the cold weather-- just under 200 people, so there was still enough for seconds.
Everyone is finishing up, and more volunteers from ADPhi come to help with clean up, which is much appreciated. We finish up and hop into cars to jump back into the swing of the campus life of meetings, classes, and homework. I realize that Community Harvest is such a wonderful break in my Bucknell routine-- it is good to be back.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Community Lifestyle
For the past two weeks, the kitchen of community harvest has been jammed packed with students. The entire management 101 company, Community Lifestyle, has been volunteering here as part of the service sector of the company. Each management 101 company has to choose a service project to which all the profits of the company go and Community Lifestyle chose community harvest. The company's VP of finance volunteered for Community Harvest before and pitched the idea to the company. Casey Coffman said the entire company was behind the idea. "No other company has ever chosen Community Harvest before. It was exciting to do something new". After contacting Lynn to see what community harvest needed, the company agreed to try and buy us a new, and much needed freezer.
Yet the company wanted to do more than just buy the freezer. Casey explained that they wanted to make a lasting impact on community harvest, but not just on the kitchen, but on the people. They company wanted to meet and get to know the people they were serving. After much brainstorming and hard work, the company planned to bake bread for community harvest as well as volunteer helping with dinner for two weeks, all funded from a loan they took out that will hopefully be repaid by their sales.
Casey and the rest of the company's service sector was a little nervous about the baking bread day. They had to bake on a Friday afternoon and Bucknell students normally do not give up their Fridays. However, they had a great turn out and the company really enjoyed working together to pull off making dozens of loaves of bread. "It was a lot of fun and a really good experience," Casey comments. The next week they started to come to the Monday dinners. The first week they threw a Fall Festival. The company secured a ridiculous amount of apple donations from Dries Orchard, causing the kitchen to literally overflow with tasty fall apples. They also bought pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, and apple cider from Weis and decorated the dining hall with streamers and fall leaves. This week they are putting on a game night. So along with balloons, more streamers, and games, the company also bought amazing cupcakes and muffins to celebrate. But perhaps more importantly, the company continually brings a heart for others. Even just in two weeks of volunteering, each member of the company has relationships with the people here. "We did not want to be a ghost donor," Casey said."We wanted to get to know the people and have them get to know us." There is no question in the minds of the people here that these students care about them, not just throwing money to some service organization. Company C really gets it; they really get service-- its not just about the money; its about building relationships and sacrificing time for the joy of others.
Casey explained that the experience has been great for company bonding. Working together towards achieving a clear and common goal of helping a specific community has built strong purpose, trust and accountability between the members, a necessity for a successful company. In fact, their service together has created such a positive dynamic between the members and such a strong sense of purpose that the company was the only company to pull off a proposal and plan that passed on the first review.
In order to meet their goal, the company needs to pay off their expenses as well as make $520 in profit to pay for the new freezer. In order to do they need to sell 230 tanks at $15 each, and they have sold 185 tanks so far. The tanks are white and twitter themed, with 'Bucknell Lifestyle' on the front and a host of funny Bucknell traits on the back, all in the wonderful colors of blue and orange. The company is hoping to sell more than 230 tanks so that they can donate the extra money to help with weekly food expenses.
Yet the company wanted to do more than just buy the freezer. Casey explained that they wanted to make a lasting impact on community harvest, but not just on the kitchen, but on the people. They company wanted to meet and get to know the people they were serving. After much brainstorming and hard work, the company planned to bake bread for community harvest as well as volunteer helping with dinner for two weeks, all funded from a loan they took out that will hopefully be repaid by their sales.
Casey and the rest of the company's service sector was a little nervous about the baking bread day. They had to bake on a Friday afternoon and Bucknell students normally do not give up their Fridays. However, they had a great turn out and the company really enjoyed working together to pull off making dozens of loaves of bread. "It was a lot of fun and a really good experience," Casey comments. The next week they started to come to the Monday dinners. The first week they threw a Fall Festival. The company secured a ridiculous amount of apple donations from Dries Orchard, causing the kitchen to literally overflow with tasty fall apples. They also bought pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, and apple cider from Weis and decorated the dining hall with streamers and fall leaves. This week they are putting on a game night. So along with balloons, more streamers, and games, the company also bought amazing cupcakes and muffins to celebrate. But perhaps more importantly, the company continually brings a heart for others. Even just in two weeks of volunteering, each member of the company has relationships with the people here. "We did not want to be a ghost donor," Casey said."We wanted to get to know the people and have them get to know us." There is no question in the minds of the people here that these students care about them, not just throwing money to some service organization. Company C really gets it; they really get service-- its not just about the money; its about building relationships and sacrificing time for the joy of others.
Casey explained that the experience has been great for company bonding. Working together towards achieving a clear and common goal of helping a specific community has built strong purpose, trust and accountability between the members, a necessity for a successful company. In fact, their service together has created such a positive dynamic between the members and such a strong sense of purpose that the company was the only company to pull off a proposal and plan that passed on the first review.
In order to meet their goal, the company needs to pay off their expenses as well as make $520 in profit to pay for the new freezer. In order to do they need to sell 230 tanks at $15 each, and they have sold 185 tanks so far. The tanks are white and twitter themed, with 'Bucknell Lifestyle' on the front and a host of funny Bucknell traits on the back, all in the wonderful colors of blue and orange. The company is hoping to sell more than 230 tanks so that they can donate the extra money to help with weekly food expenses.
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