Grace Cathedral

Grace Cathedral

Article | September 19, 2017

Dinner with Grace – September at the Mentone

Blog|Nicole Stahl

Well, we made it through another fantastic DwG, quickly followed by a lavishly complimented Celebration Sunday a few days ago. It’s taken me a couple extra days to recoup, but now it’s time to thank you all for the phenomenal effort last Tuesday and Wednesday — and look ahead to our next production on September 26 and 27.

First, the recap: imagine the non-stop activity of eleven volunteers in the kitchen, all working with joy and in harmony, executing lead chef Grace Chen’s special recipes for chicken enchiladas, refried beans, green salad and rice pudding.

We were delighted to see a few of our old friends back volunteering and to welcome a new cohort of four Circle K students, who proved indispensable to our efforts.

Everyone turned in a heroic performance, but I have to give a special shout-out to Angel Rivera, who with just a few minutes’ notice booked down to Trader Joe’s to tote up extra chicken breasts I had to buy to replace the missing count on our Instacart order.

Bill Van Loo worked his usual clean-towels-and-reheating magic Wednesday afternoon, and Zeph Chen zipped through 101 traffic to arrive early for his really important job of the day, transporting eighteen trays of food to the Mentone.

We were welcomed with open arms — tables set and adorned with fresh flowers courtesy of new Mentone staff member Toni; kitchen spotless and ready for our organized chaos and volunteers and residents full of enthusiasm. It was Case Manager Shari’s birthday, and the festive atmosphere feted her appropriately. Here’s her feedback:      

“The spirit of the Lord was truly in our place! The level of energy resonating throughout the place was remarkable. The clients truly out-did themselves by showing up and being great participants…Thanks again for helping to make my birthday special.”

Here’s who we have to thank for our latest triumph:

Photos: Tracee Zyla

Chefs: Grace, Phoebe, Jessica, Prayag, Laurel, Angel, Nicole, and Circle K students Evelyn, Heewon (Sara), Adele, and Isabella

Food Reheat:  Bill Van Loo

Driver: Zeph Cheung

Servers: Vince, Zeph, Belen, Neda, Maria, Pam, Karen, Nicole, and Circle K students Evelyn and William.

We’ve come to the end of a nice long rotation, and it’s time to fill a new cycle. Dates are:  Oct. 11 and 25, Nov. 15 and 29. Please think about leading, offering to sous-chef or splitting up the meal parts with another person. Our ministry depends on our chefs — we can’t do it without you!

Next Month’s Dates:

Tuesday, October 11 and Wednesday, October 12 at the Mentone
Tuesday, October 24 and Wednesday, October 25 at the Crosby

 

With prayers of thanks to all of you.

Blessings,

Nicole

 

To learn more about Dinner with Grace and/or to get involved, please visit our Dinner with Grace page. To see more photos from our time in the kitchen, please click on our Dinner with Grace Flickr.  

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