Grace Cathedral

Happy New Year, Everyone!

As 2019 wraps up, we thought it’d be fun to get out the calculator and come up with some numbers summarizing Dinner with Grace’s accomplishments this year…

Over the past 12 months, we prepared 23 different meals – everything from meatloaf and mashed potatoes to lasagna to chicken chop suey – each including a salad and/or green vegetable and a tempting dessert. We served a total of 1,200-plus dinners, either dine-in or to-go, to the Mentone and Crosby residents – and to our own helpers.

It’s almost impossible to count all the individual folks who’ve joined us, but we can say it took somewhere between 350 and 400 volunteers to produce these cumulative results. And going by the average amount of time (five hours) and number of helpers behind each meal (16.6) over both nights, you all have collectively contributed around 2,000 hours to this special ministry. We are impressed, not to mention in awe of your amazingly generous spirits!

Our most recent meal on December 17 and 18 for the Crosby, is testament to just how resilient a group we are. No lead chef? No problem! Winnie Cunningham stepped in to help me lead a repeat of Anneliese’s acclaimed shepherd’s pie and applesauce cake from the previous session. While we had significantly fewer helpers than last time, the 11 of us managed to get everything done – cook, enjoy a convivial meal and clean up by 8:35 pm.

On Wednesday, after Bill Van Loo’s expert reheating and Zeph’s timely driving, we faced a new challenge – a serving crew that due to last-minute conflicts, had dwindled to just 4 people. Thanks to the Crosby staff for pitching in! It was a whirlwind, leaving no time to collect stats on servings or leftovers but we got the job done, leaving emptied trays and the residents full of holiday cheer.

Here’s the full cast:

COOKS: Winnie, Sam Hsu, Phoebe Douglass, Charlie Van Norma, Rosanna Anderson, Michael Anderson, Jim Murray, Angel Rivera, Wilson Tsan, Geoff Potter, Nicole Stahl

REHEATER: Bill Van Loo

DRIVER: Pam Tormey

SERVERS: Doug Wong, Lisa Wong, Georgia-Lee Shelton, Nicole Stahl

Upcoming dates and notes (The 2020 calendar is going through a last-minute modification, but dates below are firm. Sign up here):

– January 14 – 15, Mentone: lead chef Anneliese Mauch (tentative), reheater Bill Van Loo, driver Pam Tormey
– January 28 – 29, Crosby: lead chef Anneliese Mauch (tentative), reheater Bill Van Loo, driver Zeph Cheung

By the way, we’d love to add a new driver to our roster! If you or someone you know has a car and is available on occasional Wednesdays at 5 pm, please let us know. It takes less than an hour, but it’s such a critical role!

With oodles of thanks and all best wishes for a happy, healthy and rewarding 2020! Please come back and join us when you can.