The Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen
www.downtowneveningsoupkitchen.com
Upcoming Events
Summer Toast 2008
Wednesday, June 25
6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Yale Peabody Museum’s Great Hall of Dinosaurs
107 Whitney Ave (New Haven)
Tickets at the door ($40 per person)
Free parking in Peabody Museum lot
At the Summer Toast 2008, DESK will honor the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and the Ladies’ Home Missionary Society. Come support your local soup kitchen and pantry while enjoying wine, music, and the opportunity to tour the exhibitions of the Yale Peabody Museum.
The Great Hall of Dinosaurs is the centerpiece of the Yale Peabody Museum. Featuring skeletons from the museum’s world-renowned paleontology collections, it is also home to Rudolph Zallinger’s famous mural, “The Age of Reptiles.”
“Las Artes de México” is the Yale Peabody Museum’s latest traveling exhibition, celebrating the rich and diverse artistic traditions of Mexico. Developed by the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Las Artes de México examines over 3,500 years of art and culture and of tradition and change across the broad spectrum of Mexican life, from the ancient worlds of the Mayans and Aztecs to the 20th-century works of Miguel Covarrubias and Diego Rivera. Included are artifacts from over a dozen pre-Columbian cultures that reveal a world of ceremony and celebration, of ritual warfare and the veneration of the dead, along with a selection of material from the Peabody’s own collections.
Music for the Summer Toast will be specially provided by Jay Gitlin and Chris Coulter of the Bales-Gitlin Band. Hors d’oeuvres will be handcrafted by DESK Chef Jeanne May. There will be free parking in the Peabody Museum lot.
Tickets will be available at the door for $40 per person. All proceeds directly benefit DESK. If you cannot attend but still wish to support DESK, donations may be sent to DESK at P.O. Box 1478 / New Haven, CT 06506.
This celebration has been generously sponsored by YHHAP (Yale Hunger and Homelessness Action Project) and the Yale Hunger Heroes.
Drag Show II
It’s back… Drag Show II! If you missed the drag show to benefit DESK in January, be sure not to miss it this July! As in January, this event will be presented by the Imperial Sovereign Court of All Connecticut at Lodge #25 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (524 State Street, New Haven) and will feature drag performers from Connecticut, New York, and Rhode Island. Join us for a night of fun, support, raffles, and more.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Doors open at 7:00 p.m.; show starts at 8:00 p.m.
Tickets at the door ($20 per person)
Cash bar
You must be 18 or older to attend.
Pictures from the drag show in January can be found on the DESK website.
Current Needs
Evening Volunteers (Critical!)
DESK is in critical need of volunteer help every Sunday from 12:30 to 6:00 (food preparation from 12:30 to 4:30, meal service from 5:00 to 6:00). DESK has already seen three Sundays with we had no volunteers at all, and the DESK staff cannot do everything alone.
DESK also needs extra helping hands in the every Tuesday and Sunday evening and the first Wednesday evening of every month. Evening volunteers must arrive at 311 Temple Street no later than 5:30.
Finally, we need a serving group to arrive at 311 Temple Street no later than 4:30 p.m. the second Sunday of every month from now to October.
NB: DESK will be closed Sunday, June 22.
To help at any of these times, please email JeanneMarieMay@aol.com and let her know when you are coming and how many volunteers should be expected.
Daytime Volunteers
We need help Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 11:00 to 4:00, and on Tuesdays from 1:00 to 4:00, at 311 Temple Street to prepare meals, pantry bags, and takeout lunches for the working poor.
Pantry and Kitchen Supplies
DESK is currently in desperate need of the following items:
Yams or sweet potatoes, fresh or in family-size cans
Adobo seasoning
Salt
Pepper
Crushed red pepper
Whole frozen turkeys
Any type of beef
Milk
Butter
Eggs
Parsley
Sage
White vinegar
Chili powder
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Dry mustard
Mayonnaise
Basil
Oregano
Brown sugar (!)
We also welcome donations of hotel-size hygiene items (e.g. soap, shampoo, and conditioner).
Air Conditioner
DESK would like to thank all the dedicated volunteers who have helped throughout the sweltering days of June at the kitchen and pantry—it was not easy with no air conditioning! On this subject, everyone at DESK would be much obliged if someone would donate a slightly used (working, of course) air conditioner for the pantry. DESK can arrange for pickup, if needed. Please email director@downtowneveningsoupkitchen.com if you can help.
Quick Notes
New Executive Board
Congratulations to the newly elected Executive Committee of the DESK Board of Directors. The hardworking volunteers who serve as members of the board ensure that DESK is able to fulfill its mission. Following is a list of the new members:
Cynthia McCarroll—first-term president. Cindy has been DESK’s acting president since the resignation of two term past president, Julia Prest. Cindy has served numerous evening meals since January and is proving to be a great “hands-on” president!
Liz Cox—first-term vice president. Liz has served on the DESK Board for over five years and on a variety of the Board’s committees. Liz has also helped with numerous DESK fundraisers over the years.
William Hyde, Jr. (aka. “Bill”)—third-term treasurer. Bill also received the DESK Board Member Award 2007 at this year’s Soup Night!
Elizabeth Duryea—first-term secretary. Elizabeth inherits this spot on the Executive Committee from resigning two-term secretary, Erin Shaffer, whose legal expertise DESK will miss. Elizabeth will immediately tackle the task of organizing and updating DESK’s Personnel Manual and by-laws.
Blanche Baldwin—longtime member-at-large. In addition to holding this position, Blanche serves as DESK’s Center Church liaison. All of DESK’s operations currently reside at Center Church.
Rosa Nieves—unofficial “donor data secretary.” Rosa was the first DESK board member to assume this important function. Besides being grateful for her work in this capacity, DESK is very appreciative of Rosa’s contributions in a number of fundraising projects.
Congratulations to all these great volunteers, and thanks so much for all your help and support to DESK behind the scenes.
The DESK Board will also be serving the evening meal Wednesday, July 30.
Information
Food Donations
You may drop off food donations at 311 Temple Street between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Please call the kitchen (203-772-3400) before you come to make sure that DESK staff will be present! DESK cannot take food donations on Sundays!
Please remember that all of DESK’s offices and operations are closed on Fridays and Saturdays. We cannot accept deliveries or food donations on those days. Volunteer calls should only be made Sunday through Thursday. Thanks!
Volunteer Opportunities
Email Jeanne (JeanneMarieMay@aol.com), and she’ll find something for you to do anytime from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Sunday through Thursday. Also, please note that DESK does not accept all community service and court appointed volunteers. Please email Jeanne to check for openings.
Removal from E-Newsletter List
To be removed from the E-Newsletter mailing list, please email webmaster@downtowneveningsoupkitchen.com.
Emergency Food Council
The Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen is a member of the Emergency Food Council of Connecticut. Visit our website at www.emergencyfoodcouncil.com.
Contact DESK
Diana M. Richter
Executive Director
P.O. Box 1478
New Haven, CT 06506
Phone: 203-624-6426
Fax: 203-624-2116
director@downtowneveningsoupkitchen.com