The Simple Things.

I went to The Haven shelter in Spartanburg today.  It was nice.  I got to meet some of the people who live there and some who work and volunteer there.  My job was to put together meal plans for the next three nights dinner.  Dinner for 20+ people.  Entire meal plans... main dish, sides, drink, dessert.  For 20 people.  It took me over an hour folks.  Rooting through shelves and refrigerators, boxes and piles.  My work looked horrible!  Scratched out, marked up, messy handwriting...  The problem I kept running into was that I would get halfway through a menu, and lo and behold... a missing ingredient!  So I'd have to start all over again.  For instance...  They had TONS of canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste...  The problem?  Well, do you like spaghetti with PLAIN tomato sauce?  No flavor, no seasoning?  How about chili?  What do you eat with chili?  Cornbread?  Tortilla chips maybe?  How do you make lasagna with no ricotta or mozzarella?  What do you do with refried beans if you don't have any flour tortillas?  A bag of flour?  Great!  But without baking powder or baking soda... You get the picture...

I mean, this is some serious stuff.  They are feeding a full dinner to 20 residents every night of the year.  ON DONATIONS.  They occupy a house which does not qualify for the state grants which alot of other facilities have.  Well what do we typically donate when we give to places like this?  In that past I have given my leftovers.  A can of this, a can of that.  A box of this or a box of that.  Well let me tell ya folks, a box of rice-a-roni aint gonna go far when feeding 20 people.  And while you can certainly open up 15 cans of chicken noodle soup, people are not going to be full or have their nutritional needs met without some things to go along with that.  These are families... children... pregnant women.  People, who need to eat to live just like us.

If you live in the upstate SC area and would like to help out...  Even $5 a week.  $5.  $5 would buy 50 flour tortillas, 15 boxes of cornbread mix, 2 pounds of cheese or 5 dozen eggs.  What is $5 to us?  A cup of coffee and a bagel?  A newspaper a few mornings a week?  I'm telling you, what a difference $5 a week would make to these 20 people and the people who are helping them.  I'm going to be going shopping, probably once every week or two.  If you want to help out, I will gladly do the legwork for you.  Just let me know.

If you want to do some shopping yourself, here are some ideas:

flour tortillas
corn tortillas
tortilla chips
corn bread mix
baking powder
baking soda
LARGE cans of applesauce or other fruit (like what you would find at Sam's or Costco)
LARGE containers of spices: chili powder, cumin, italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder
butter or margarine
vegetable oil
eggs
parmesan cheese
large bags of shredded cheese
carrots (you can get a 25 pound bag at publix for $15)
sour cream
drink mixes (lemonade and iced tea)
brownie and cookie mixes