Loaves & Fishes

 


As part of our missionary service in Sydney, we seek out opportunities to serve, and get involved in the community.  One worthy venture is Loaves & Fishes, a combination kitchen and food bank.  Unfortunately (and it's not unique to Sydney), there is a segment of the people who for whatever reason, just don't have the opportunity for even 1 hot meal per day.  L&F has outstanding leadership and support from the community, and the opportunity is provided 365 days per year for a hot meal prepared from whatever is in the kitchen and pantry.  Marguerite (brown shirt, back turned) is the director of the meal operations, and she runs a tight ship!  No smoking, drugs, dogs, or bad behavior, and she means it.  



We try to help once per week, usually on Friday mornings, but we have gotten early calls when Marguerite has been shorthanded, and luckily we have been able to quickly shift our schedules to come down and help.  In good weather, the meals are served outside.  Barbeque (hamburgers and hot dogs) are a favorite, and are served with salad, fries, and a drink.  Usually I am the one tasked with moving the chairs and tables outside to set up, keep the supplies replenished, and take everything down at the end.  Meals start at 10am, and are finished by noon.  There are usually 90 - 150 meals served each day.



Sister Johnson works nonstop and is either serving, resupplying, or cleaning the trays and dishes so there will always be enough to use.



Last Friday, I was assigned the "treats" table, which has an assortment of items from the pantry that the folks can take home after their meal.  The items vary, but this day there was 1 dozen eggs, a cucumber, 3 tomatoes, cheese, chocolate egg, and sweet roll or donut.  I have to be on my toes, and frequently have to say:  "3 tomatoes, but only 1 donut".  Sister Johnson spent 4 hours at the sink washing trays, bowls, etc.  There is usually meal prep going on for the following day - in this case scalloped potatoes, so there was lots of cooking, slicing, can opening, and of course clean up.  Sister J always does an extra good job of cleaning, so that when we're finished serving, there is very little cleanup to be done, because she's got everything cleaned during the course of the meal.



After our stint at Loaves and Fishes, we headed to RibFest for some delicious takeout.  It's an annual fundraiser sponsored by the Rotary Club, and there is some pretty good BBQ.  We got a smoked sausage, some brisket and a maple cornbread muffin.  Lots of support from the community and lots of funds were raised and prizes given for the "best" in almost every category.  Unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to sample from each of the stands, but the items we got from Crabby's were excellent.

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