Welcoming Meal Providers Back to Shelter
After two years, meal providers who prepared and dropped off dinners for our shelters will finally be able to cook and serve meals on-site, in our shelters’ kitchens. In March of 2020, Transition Projects pivoted our meal provider program quickly to continue to provide meals safely, creating new processes for groups to cook meals at home or in commercial kitchens and deliver them to our shelters. Meal providers stepped up in a big way, with many taking on additional meals and rallying other members of their community to join their groups or create new groups. Over two years, dedicated meal providers have delivered over 200,000 meals, ensuring that meal service was available for everyone living in our shelters during the pandemic.
This month, we are thrilled to once again welcome meal providers back into our shelter kitchens to cook and serve dinners in person. Meal provider groups cooking in person must be fully vaccinated and continue to wear masks in an effort to keep our community safe and healthy. Shelter staff and participants are excited to see volunteers back on-site, and volunteer groups like On The Move Ministries (pictured), are eager to serve and chat with shelter guests in person. They served meals regularly pre-pandemic at Doreen’s Place and Laurelwood Center, but relied on the kitchens to be able to provide meals. Though they’ve been delivering meals over the past two years, they have been eagerly awaiting being able to cook onsite and have already signed up to provide three meals this month!
The meal provider program will continue to offer the option to cook at home and deliver food to shelters for those who would prefer not to cook and serve in person. If you’re interested in cooking a meal on a one-time or ongoing basis, at home or in a shelter, visit tprojects.org/volunteer to register for a volunteer orientation and learn about the meal provider program. Many thanks to our incredible meal providers, who have remained flexible and reliable through two years of uncertainty to ensure that our participants have delicious meals every evening!
