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Sunday noon meals
(aka soup lunches)
October 25 chili cook-off
The Unitarian Universalist
Fellowship of Ames at 1015 North Hyland has meals after
the 11 am program
on the fourth Sunday of the month in September, October,
January, and February. All ages of UU members, friends, their guests,
and other visitors are welcome. Volunteers sign up in advance to bring food for the meal. The
September meal is a harvest brunch; October will be a chili cook-off, and January
will be the annual Iowa-grown meal.
Their preparation makes
it convenient for other participants to linger in the Fireside Room after the second program
to enjoy fine food and camaraderie, even if their choice
to stay and dine is a last minute whim. Volunteers can
also sign up in advance to set up tables and chairs,
serve the meal, wash dishes, vacuum the floor, etc.
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Many other
people spontaneously help with the work before or after
they eat. There is good energy, and people have a lot of
fun getting to know each other better by sharing a meal
and/or working together. Indeed, many hands make light
work. We require
no reservations nor ask any fees for the meal. However, there
will be a basket at each lunch for free will donations. This year,
half of the money will go the Good Neighbor Healthy Food
Voucher program, and half will go to the UUFA Iowa-grown food fund for supplies and/or a
speaker for a future meal. |
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For instance, in 2008, the fund paid for ice cream and herb-seasoned
cheese curds from Picket Fence Creamery for our
Iowa-grown soup lunch. The extra cheese was served at
the UUFA stewardship gala where they were a hit. And in
2009, the fund paid for more Picket Fence ice cream, turkey and ham
from the Griffieon Family Farm, ham from Audubon County Family
Farms, Honeycrisp apples from the Berry Patch Farm, and bread from
Grains of Wisdom.
Established Fellowship groups or informal groups of UU friends
are encouraged to sign up to be a soup lunch crew for one Sunday.
Each crew—with the support of the Fellowship soup lunch
coordinator—gets to create the theme and menu for the meal and
recruit volunteers. The UU Women's Book Club was the
crew for November 2007, the middle school religious education
students served the April 2008 lunch, and the Coming of Age
youth provided desserts and hospitality services for several meals
in 2008-2009 to raise funds for their Boston trip.
If you have feedback regarding
the meals or wish to prepare food or otherwise help make the
soup lunches a success, please contact Helen Gunderson or the UUFA
office. If you wish, you can check out our on-line volunteer sign-up
sheet, discern where you want to help, then email or call
Helen. She will put your name in the
slot that you want. (Note: it is not technically possible for you to
type your own name in the slots.)
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