Wednesday mornings at Saint Vincent de Paul, March and April 2018

Back at the beginning of 2018, I started volunteering at Saint Vincent de Paul with our long time friend Jane.  Jane's dad Bob had been a long time volunteer with SVDP back when he lived in Waltham, MA.  So Jane and I started scheduling a two hour shift in the main kitchen - they produce 4500 meals per day for the six dining rooms they have in the Phoenix metro area.  There are a variety of tasks and they are all done for large quantities of what ever we were assigned.

In January and February, it was mostly cutting up potatoes and carrots.  March 7, we cut up red and green peppers.

March 14, 21 and 28, it was cutting hams that had been frozen - slicing as evenly as possible then put 44 slices per large pan, four rows of eleven.  Then stack the pans on a cart.  When the cart is full, cover it with a large bag, mark it with the date and what is on the cart, then store the cart in the walk in coolers.

Last week it was peeling and dicing onions -  but I neglected to take photos.  This week it was opening boxes, then opening cans with a manual can opener mounted on the table, then draining the juices and congealed fat, then breaking up the meat and filling a large 55 gallon barrel.

Each week, we learn a little more of the system - where to put dirty knives and cutting boards, where the empty boxes are recycled, where the trash gets dumped and compacted, etc.  It is amazing to be one of the volunteers that work with the staff to produce those 4,500 meals, 365 days per year.