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Winter Nights Blog #10- 12-19-10 – A Real Artist’s Affair

A fabulous kitchen crew led by Margie Kaplan served a delicious meal of Moroccan Meatballs with Couscous, Green Salad, Dinner Rolls, and Roasted Cauliflower with Cumin, & Chocolate Chip Cake.  Clearly they had read all of the instructions for Cooking/Serving and did every job
in a timely manner and done perfectly.  This kind of volunteer support makes Cindy & my job
immeasurably easier, and offers a sense of stability to our client-guests.  Cantor Korn led the Ha Motzi in our nightly circle, and his voice rang loud and clear.

One of our clients’ 9-year son came up to ask for fresh lemon.  I wondered why he wanted it, and he said, “It will go well with the cauliflower.”  I think that the Cooking classes are really making an impact.  Speaking of cooking classes – the report from the clients was as glowing as the blog entry from Tina … Read More >

Winter Nights Blog #9 – 12-28-10 – Dark & Rainy Night Outside, but Warmth & Community Inside

Veteran cooks prepared and served a delicious meal of Barbecued Chicken, Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans, Green Salad, Dinner Rolls, and Red Velvet Cupcakes & sheet cake.  This Havurah group has been serving dinners for homeless guest-clients for a dozen years and have always made it a family affair. 

Activities volunteers made poppers for New Year’s Eve, as well as spending special time with individual client-guests who need help with basic math and reading skills.  Kids benefit so much from the individual attention.

As mentioned in previous blogs, the client numbers do fluctuate even when we have a stable population.  Some clients choose not to eat for any number of reasons, so it is difficult to predict the exact number of diners.  We always have plenty of food for clients & volunteers, and all leftovers are taken to the Concord Shelter.

Shout outs – Mitch Zak for cleaning out … Read More >

Winter Nights Blog #8 - 12-27-10 - A Musical Event

Tonight our guests and volunteers were treated to a musical prelude by Dan Howard, Joy of Muse, and his accompanist Wayne Allen.  Fortunately we had a musical volunteer in Ellen Winnick, and she and Dan collaborated on music with action words.  The kids who sat with Dan and Ellen learned the words and motions for “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and other old favorites.  It was a delight to hear Dan’s music and watch how positively the kids responded.

Tonight’s crew headed by Michelle Holtz and an able group of volunteers, served Macaroni & Cheese, Steamed Broccoli, Herb & Tomato Salad, Cornbread, and Poppy Seed Cake.  It was amazing to see how many of the guest-clients were served a mixture of colorful food on their plates.  This was totally consistent with the beginning … Read More >

Winter Nights Blog #7 – 12-26-10 – Back to Full Strength

All of our guests who spent Christmas with family were back tonight and we had a full complement of 25 guests.  It is quite possible that we will get 1-2 more families this week.  We always have plenty of food and have lots of room to shelter more guest-clients.

Morning hot breakfast was served by the Radke Family, Mike & Linda Bandler, and Linda & Lauren Waxman.  The guest-clients really appreciate the special weekend breakfasts.  Weekend breakfast is always a much sought after Winter Nights volunteer assignment, and desire is always rewarded with great effort.

After the zoo, Santa Claus, carolers, Christmas gifts, and movies, everyone was ready for a quiet day.  Some of the guest-clients walked with strollers down Risa Road to BART and went to Walnut Creek for a couple of hours this afternoon.  The down part was easy, but … Read More >

Winter Nights Blog #6 – 12-25-10 – A Quiet Christmas Day

Christmas morning dawns a little later than the rest of the days in the shelter.  A delicious hot breakfast of pancakes, potatoes and scrambled eggs was served.  The guest-clients really appreciate our weekend hot breakfast cooks.  Normally the shelter starts buzzing at 5:30 a.m. and everyone is gone by 7:00 a.m.  Everyone was very relaxed since they did not have to get up early.

Debby Weinstein takes “Santa Letters” over to the site that houses the shelter 2-3 weeks before us.  Each parent and child is asked to write a “Letter to Santa” indicating what s/he would like for Christmas.  Some of the things are spot on, and others are totally unrealistic.  We give gift cards,  personal care products, and some clothing to the adults.  It is often difficult to balance their individual wishes and our capacities, but we try.  A group … Read More >

Winter Nights Blog #5 - 12-24-10 - Santa Claus & Carolers Came To Town

The music rang out, the Social Hall was full, the kitchen was well-managed and Santa Claus came to town.  A Christmas Eve celebration at Temple Isaiah is a wondrous affair.  The high level of spirits between client-guests and volunteers is marvelous.  Everyone had an especially good evening, and all festivities were over in time for the congregation to celebrate Shabbat.  Nadav took one of our guests and his twin sons into the sanctuary to revel in our worship service.

Big thanks goes out to Joyce Stenson.  Joyce is a regular member of our fabulous Temple choir, and she has stepped into the role of Caroler Chairperson.  Joyce has contacted all potential participants, coordinated times (made changes based on Shabbat Services), re-contacted everyone, copied the music, and sent lovely reminders to all participants.  This is a perfect example of how Winter Nights … Read More >

Winter Nights Blog #4 12-23-10 – Generosity Abounds & Some Minor Excitement

We had our first Lafayette police call in several years and 1st vomiting of the year plus the smoke alarm went off in the middle of the night. Otherwise, it was a pretty quiet night. Our guest-client’s numbers are going down instead of up as one of our mothers and 3 children are joining the husband/dad in Guatemala.  At least one family is away until Christmas Day and several of the teens are spending time with friends.  This is normal occurrence during our tenure.  The population ups and downs will certainly continue through the New Year.

Crew Chief Mary Ann Winig’s team served Beef Stew, Baked Butternut Squash, Brown Rice Pilaf, Dinner Rolls and Chocolate Applesauce Cake.  Another delicious meal.  Our Art Activity area was busy from 5:00 p.m.  More holiday ornament making was demonstrated and implemented by Arlynn Bloom and a cool button-making project was done by Jyl Gershen-Lewis.  … Read More >

Winter Nights Blog #3– 12-22-10 – LAFTY Night

Upon arrived at the Temple kitchen tonight, it was clear that it was going to be calmer than the first 2 nights.  Joining us were teenage members of LAFTY, led by Youth Director, Dan Lange.  The teens had everything in order for their delicious meal of Cheese Lasagna, Butterfly Beans, Chopped Salad with Russian Dressing, Dinner Rolls, and Apple Crisp.  They had spent the afternoon cooking and preparing and building a strong sense of community within their group.  Temple member Vivian Poettgen made a divine organic vegetable soup and donated dozens of bagels courtesy of Noah’s.  We pass on our leftovers every night to the Concord Shelter, but we will keep the rest of the soup to serve on these cold nights.  Those of us who are Winter Nights every night and eat the fantastic meals that are prepared, will probably need to be the first people in line for … Read More >