For 18 years now a group of families got together to serve monthly meals at a homeless shelter. At first we started with 1 dinner meal per month, then went to 2, then 4 meals per month (2 dinner/2 lunch) for a shelter housing about 180 people (about 140 in the summer months).
I shop for the two lunches, which are the same menu: penne pasta in meat sauce, green beans, Texas Toast, small pieces of candy, iced tea, and condiments of sliced jalipenos and parmesian cheese. The shelter provides permanent plastic plates or divided trays. We provide plastic forks and knapkins.
My total shoping bill at Sam's Club is about $250 (was $170 back in 2001). The list is:
- 24 lbs penne pasta
- 6 large cans of tomato sauce/crushed tomatoes mixed
- 240 slices Texas toast (pre-buttered and with garlic), toast on site
- 3 bags small candies (about $30 for three)
- 2- tubes 10% ground beef (about $30/each)
- 3-flavored iced tea (I think about 16 gallons each mixed with water)
- forks, napkins, 16 oz cups, Italian seasoning every 8th trip.
We used to do mixed salads but many of the people did not eat that so went to steamed green beans. In a shelter, keep it simple to appeal to most of the guests. In our case we have a full commercial kitchen and a professional cooking staff, with guest volunteers learning that trade to help. I shop the day before, then about 8 of us show up to prepare and serve.
The four meals we serve each month are not fancy but they are a welcome event in the lives of the residents. If you do this, be aware that many of the residents are not fully whole and may show some quirks; best to let them open up to you rather than to appear "too friendly" to them as some may resent it. Some of today's residents have been there since we started and some took a few years to even say "hi", so just give them their space an dignity and let them lead on interactions.
Now, why /r/frugal? It's a decent meal that you can easily do at home and meet or beat our price PP. If you do this I suggest this:
- do a better and less costly dessert than just candy pieces
- use less throw away items such as cups, forks to lower your cost
- consider skipping the meat and that will save about 40% of the cost (down to $.83 PP with no meat.)
March 24, 2018 at 01:39PM
