Serve our neighbors and build community with Open Table Saturday at Chester Eastside!
Serve our neighbors and build community with Open Table Saturday at Chester Eastside!
› Open Table Saturday at Chester Eastside
Weekly meal hosted by Swarthmore Presbyterian Church. Calling All Volunteers!
› Open Table Saturday at Chester Eastside
Weekly meal hosted by SPC. Calling All Volunteers!
Many in this congregation know well the deep and impactful ministry of Chester Eastside (CEI).
SPC
has been in partnership with CEI for many years, supporting the food pantry, clothing closet, after school programming, summer camp, Thanksgiving meals, Christmas gift exchange and much more. Our newest continuation of and expansion on this partnership is hosting a Saturday weekly meal at Chester Eastside for the community, Open Table Saturday.
We’ve been at this now for nearly five months, and the meal is a staple part of the week for many. Like the Open Table meals that happen three days during the week, on Saturdays, the main entree is catered by a local business owner, Everybody Eats Philly. SPC volunteers help to manage set-up, including preparation of space and accompanying food (salad, desserts, and drinks, with materials provided by Chester Eastside), as well as distribution of the meal, companionship during the meal and clean up afterwards. Beyond the details of meal service, SPC volunteers fulfill the most significant role of being hosts for the guests who come—providing a warm welcome, conversation, and a safe place.
Calling all volunteers!
Each week we need 5 volunteers to help Open Table Saturday run well. This is an opportunity for all ages—parents with their children or youth, for young adults, for adults and older adults—with the hope that you might be inspired to volunteer more than once. This is also a chance to invite your friends, your neighbors, your colleagues, any who might be interested as we serve food while also getting to know one another in more meaningful ways.
Calling All Volunteers!
Volunteer Sign-Up
If you have completed the volunteer orientation, we encourage you to sign up to help. If you haven’t, let Rev. Sarah Cooper Searight know of your interest and we can find a way to get this done easily. You will choose your date(s) and role preferred, knowing that every role is critical to making this meal familiar to guests. All volunteers will be asked to help with set-up and clean-up. All volunteers are asked to arrive at 9:30 and plan to be there until approximately 1:00 pm. Sign-ups thru the summer are available by clicking on the button below. Specific roles are as follows:
Food Service Volunteers will work primarily with just what it says, serving food to the guests as they arrive—with a generous and warm spirit. You will manage portions to make sure all are fed and help as guests request seconds or to-go boxes.
Companions are there to be present as much as anything else—welcome guests as they arrive, eat with them, start up some conversation, be a listening ear. You do not have to be particularly outgoing, but just willing to offer your presence as earnestly as you are able. Just think of how you like to make people feel at home when you host, and this is the spirit of being a Companion.
Floaters/Receiver of Guests will help as guests come in to keep count (training provided!) and will pitch in where needed.
Chefs Stephanie Willis and Malik Ali in the dining room of Everybody Eats Cafe in Chester. Image source: Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer
› Shining a Light on Our Outreach Partners
› Shining a Light on Our Outreach Partners
R
ecently, an article was written in the Philadelphia Inquirer, celebrating the caterer who provides food for Open Table Saturday at Chester Eastside. Everybody Eats Café in Chester is just opening, however the chefs, Stephanie Willis and Malik Ali have been active providing food in the community for some time. Two years ago, when Chester Eastside was looking to revitalize their hot meals program, they initiated a partnership with Everybody Eats, still a catering service out of Chef Willis’ home. Now the business is thriving, and they have opened a location in downtown Chester.
We are sharing this article with you to celebrate the creative partnering that is happening here between Everybody Eats and several of SPC’s partners in Chester, including Chester Eastside and Making a Change Group. All who have volunteered with Open Table Saturday can testify to the good food provided, so take this as encouragement to try this new restaurant in our area and continue supporting the strength of creative partnering in our community.
