Last MESH Report for 2025/26 – June 22-23
MESH Tag Team Report.
On Monday (June 22), Team 1 including Linda Wieseneck, Joan Zief and Lynne Kurzweil met in the Shomrei kitchen to prepare 50 MESH meals for the following day which included Dry Rub Roast Chicken to be served cold, Roasted Potato Salad with Lime-Parsley Vinaigrette and Cole Slaw. They partially packed the bags, including a roll and stored them on a cart in the refrigerator.
On Tuesday (June 23), Team 2, consisting of Aileen Grossberg, Sarah and Charles Steindel completed the task. Aileen prepared a green salad and veggie burgers for our 4 vegans, and included the potato salad. The team finished packing the bags for all with fruit cup, cookies, water bottles and cutlery packs. Marc Grossberg delivered the meals to MESH at the Union Baptist Church.
Although we take a break from cooking for July and August, we have provided funding to MESH so they are able to purchase 60 restaurant meals twice monthly over the summer.
Many thanks to all of our MESH volunteers, including a special Todah Rabah to Fern Heinig and Jordan Sag for spearheading Teen MESH. With a few exceptions for midterms and AP Tests, Teen MESH showed up once each month to do the work of preparing those 50 meals. We also want to thank Shomrei staff members Melissa, Jenn, Theresa, Mustafa and Carlos for all of their gracious support to help us make MESH happen.
We are grateful to the Carol Starr MESH Fund for helping to underwrite these meals.
Please Note Help Needed: Most Monday afternoons, Marc Grossberg has been delivering weekend leftovers to MESH at Union Baptist Church at 12 Midland Avenue, about a 5 minute drive from Shomrei. MESH is so appreciative of this extra food which they use to supplement the meals dropped off by MESH partners. This task takes about 30 minutes from picking up at Shomrei and delivering to the Church. MESH is at the Church to receive the food by 3:30 pm. If you are available, please let Lynne (2301-341-6866) or Aileen (862-202-0227) know. We will be adding a slot on the signup sheet for this task: www.shomrei.org/mesh
About MESH
Shomrei thanks the Carol Starr MESH Fund for helping to underwrite these meals. MESH (Montclair Emergency Services for Hope) is a community-wide cooperative effort between local synagogues and churches.
Volunteer at Shomrei
Shomrei provides 50 meals to MESH on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month. We need volunteers to help prepare and pack the food. For those interested in volunteering who are not available on Tuesday afternoons, we are brainstorming different ways to make it work. Let us know what would work for you.
signup here
Additionally, each Monday afternoon, we deliver any usable food leftover from Kiddish to MESH.
Volunteer at the (Temporary) MESH Site
Volunteers are also welcome to help serve food 6 nights a week, Monday through Saturday, 4:30-6:30 pm at the MESH site. Due to a burst pipe at the MESH site at 619 Bloomfield Ave, MESH will be meeting temporarily at the Union Baptist Church.
signup here
Monetary Donations
If you can’t help in person, please consider a donation to help fund this important service.
donate here
