Aid For Friends Cook-Off February 7th

On Sunday, February 7th from 2 to 4 p.m., Nativity BVM will have a cooking and preparation event at the Parish Center.  We will prepare 100 to 150 meals.  Everyone is welcome and this is an excellent opportunity for service hours for the parish young people.

Here are the volunteer opportunities at the cook-off:

  • Food preparation – We will be preparing some dishes in the Parish Center kitchen. 
  • Preparing the trays – We will follow an assembly line approach of filling the trays with food items, covering with foil, and placing in plastic bags with twist ties.
  • Filling out the menu forms – The menu forms (with contents and date prepared) will be filled out and then placed on top of each tray.
  • Freezing the trays – Completed trays will be transported to the Aid for Friends Freezer in the Priests’ garage.

 Here are volunteer opportunities prior to the cook-off:

  • Making Meatloaf – We have 5 pounds of ground turkey that needs to be made into meatloaf.  We are looking for 3 to 5 people to pick up the ground turkey at the rectory from Wed. 2/3 to Fri. 2/5 and then drop off the cooked meatloaf to the Parish Center on 2/7 between 2-4pm.
  • Baked Items – Any parishioners who wish to make baked goods may drop them off at the Parish Center on 2/7 between 2-4pm.  These goods will be individually frozen and provided with the frozen dinner trays.

Please contact Mary Huis at 610-627-0766 or Cookie Magee at 610-566-0185 if you would like to help with this event or have any questions.

 

Overview of the Aid For Friends Program

Frozen Meal Preparation, Drop Off and Distribution

Frozen meals are prepared by parishioners.  Typically, they are leftovers of a family meal.  Meal containers have modestly-sized portions that are geared to those with smaller appetites.

The frozen meals are delivered to the rectory any time.

The frozen meals are delivered to needy people on a regular basis – can be weekly, bi-weekly or monthly depending on the need of participants and the availability of volunteers for delivery.

 Administration

All frozen meals that are delivered to the rectory garage and subsequently delivered to the needy, must be indicated with “in” and “out” dates on the form kept at the Aid For Friends freezer.

All frozen meals must have the menu form affixed to the top stating the date prepared and contents of meal.

The Aid For Friends freezer is located in the Priest garage.

 Supplies and Forms

All supplies (meal containers, soup containers, and lids) and all forms (meals in and out of freezer and menu forms) are available at the Aids For Friends freezer located in the Priest garage.

 Aid for Friends Recipients

Recipients are any person in the Parish vicinity that is too frail to cook and struggles to stand over a stove to prepare meals.  Primarily, this is the frail elderly but also, persons coming home after surgery or recuperating after surgery can benefit from this ministry also.  Aid For Friends serves anyone of any age who is isolated and homebound.

Recipients can be referred to Focal by anyone (including the rectory and any parishioner).

The Food Collection Program, St. Vincent de Paul Society and Eucharistic Ministers provide insight into those in need.

 Aid For Friends Volunteer Opportunities

The current focal is Mary Huis 610-627-0766.  Responsible for receiving input on new participants.  Responsible for maintaining current list of Aid For Friends Recipients.  Responsible for ensuring that necessary supplies are available in the Priest Garage.  This includes downloading of additional forms from the Aid For Friends Website on an “as required ” basis.

Responsible for “advertising” the ministry on a regular basis in the Church Bulletin.

 Volunteer opportunities

Periodic trip to Aid For Friends Outreach Center in Philadelphia to acquire the necessary supplies .

Preparation and delivery of frozen meals to the rectory by parishioners.

Delivery of frozen meals to the needy.  This is on either a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis.