In the past year, D.E.S.K. provided 50,719 meals, 10,577 pantry bags, and 5,832 bag lunches for the food-insecure of New Haven. An average of 300 volunteers served at D.E.S.K. each month in 2006. Great job, everyone!

 

 

 

 

The contractor for the renovation project of D.E.S.K.’s central kitchen (311 Temple St) is Diglio Electrical Contractors (Northford). They have already started demolition and are beginning to work on the floor. See the website for pictures of the project.

 

For the duration of the project, estimated to be one month, the 311 Temple central kitchen will remain closed. In the meantime, D.E.S.K. will serve Thursday night meals in the kitchen and dining Hall at the United Church Parish House, which is adjacent to the central kitchen. To get into the building, volunteers should come to the brown door at the back of the building, which opens toward Wall St, and knock.

 

 

 

Sunday meals will continue to be served at the Slifka Center, and the pantry schedule will remain the same at 311 Temple St on Wednesday afternoons from 2:0 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. All other serving times and locations will also remain unchanged.

 

On February 14, the Yale Cooking Club, in conjunction with Hunger Heroes, prepared a special dinner for D.E.S.K.’s guests. The dinner was a great success: the guests reacted very warmly to the Cooking Club volunteers, homemade deserts, and decorations, and the roast beef was a big hit (in fact, all 50 pounds of it went by in a flash!).

 

D.E.S.K. and Yale Hunger Heroes would like to thank the following:

 

Standard Beef, who donated the 50 pounds of roast beef for $1.89 a pound (Standard Beef has also expressed interest giving D.E.S.K. future discounts)

 

Chabaso, who provided much bread and many cookies too (Chabaso would also like to begin regular donations)

 

Shaw’s, who gave $25 toward the event

 

YHHAP, from whom came a generous gift of $186

 

The Yale Cooking Club, and its president, Stephen Fedele, who together did most of the work

 

…and of course, Hunger Heroes. Thank you, Pria and Nicole, for helping out!

 

D.E.S.K. would like to thank the ACES School for donating 100 beautiful fruit baskets and $100 dollars worth of Shaw’s shopping cards. ACES has been a longtime supporter of D.E.S.K. and, we appreciate all of the students and staff who worked so hard to provide these gifts. The fruit baskets were given out at the evening meal on Friday, February 16, and the guests greatly appreciated them. Thank you, ACES!

 

We are currently looking for volunteers to help run our Wednesday food pantry (311 Temple St) from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. If you would like to get involved, or if you know of a group of three to five people who might be interested, please email Jeanne at JeanneMarieMay@aol.com. Because of the kitchen renovation project, although we have our pantry in 311 Temple St, we must cook in another building, and this makes running the two programs at the same time more difficult. So come on down and help us give out groceries! You’ll also be able to enjoy meeting some of our guests!

 

 

Currently, D.E.S.K. is in great need of a steamer for the new kitchen, and we are requesting donations to make this purchase. Having a steamer will enable D.E.S.K. to prepare a greater amount and variety of food, especially during the summer when we have the most guests. In the past, we have filled every inch of the oven space and every burner, and we still do not have enough room to prepare all we need during the summer. Thus, the steamer is a necessity at this point in our operations.

 

Thanks to Alexis Kasowitz, $360 has been raised toward meeting this $3000 need, but we still have $2,640 yet to raise! If you would like to contribute, please indicate that your donation is for the “Steamer” and send it to:

 

    D.E.S.K.

    P.O. Box 1478

    New Haven, CT 06506

 

Drop off donations at 311 Temple Street between 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, or call the kitchen (203-772-3400).

 

 

To be removed from the E-Newsletter mailing list, please email webmaster@downtowneveningsoupkitchen.com.

 

Diana M. Richter

Executive Director

P.O. Box 1478

New Haven, CT 06506

Phone: 203-624-6426

Fax: 203-624-2116