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You’ve heard the phrase, and I bet many of you have used it; “it takes a village”. It’s an idiom that means, you need multiple people cooperating together to achieve some sort of goal. Did you know that the full phrase is “it takes a village to raise a child”? The origin of this phrase has not been proven, but has been widely attributed to African cultures. Others believe its inception begins with a Native American Tribe. If you have kids in your life, you’re nodding your head in agreement right now! Managing your kids' schedules, and extracurricular activities while holding down a job is a balancing act. You rely on your village of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends to make it all possible.
In this month’s newsletter, we’re breaking down the cooperative effort required to pull together an average of about 125 meals a day, in just a few short hours, all whilst in the middle of a pandemic! Such an accomplishment truly ”takes a village”. This month’s newsletter also spotlights volunteer Jane Kogan, and remembers Joan Pereira, both artists with a long history in our quaint village of Provincetown.
March On!
Donna
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IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO SERVE A MEAL | |
The Soup Kitchen in Provincetown serves nearly 125 meals daily. Lunch is typically a full-course meal consisting of soup, salad, entrée, and dessert, with vegan and gluten-free options always available. And, just like a high-pressured cooking competition, we only have 3 hours to accomplish this! It takes a village; that is a collaborative effort from many people, to accomplish this feat. Our village is comprised of a kitchen staff of 2, over a hundred volunteers, and the financial support of partners, and donors. Every village needs a leader and ours is executive chef Gina Larkin. Gina manages the entire process from menu conceptualization to serving the lunch line.
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First we need provisions! Twice a month we receive up to 1,800 pounds of food from our partner, The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB). Gina places the GBFB order, then crafts her menu based upon what’s available from the food bank. SKIP board members drive to the food pantry in Harwich and perform the pickup. Since most of the food is donated, item availability differs each time our executive chef orders. The chef supplements food ingredients and paper supplies from other vendors, this is where our generous Sponsor a Lunch donors come in, thank you!
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The executive chef arrives before the volunteers show up at 9:30. Under the direction of the chef, they assist with food prep, which includes chopping vegetables for soups and salads, helping with entrees (think rolling 400 meatballs!), and making desserts. For a typical meal, say meatloaf or roast chicken, we use 50-60 pounds of ground beef or 55 pounds of chicken. Our side dishes require 36 heads of lettuce for our salad, about 40 pounds of vegetables, and 5 gallons of soup.
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There are generally two entrees and two soups prepared daily to accommodate vegan and gluten-free diets. On Thursdays, the kitchen pumps out two meals in preparation for the takeaway lunch for Saturday. Throughout all of this chopping, sautéing, and mixing, Didier, our incredible utilities person, is hard at work cleaning up industrial sized pots, pans, and cutting boards. These pans are so big that it takes a team of two to lift the soup off the stove!
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Service start time quickly approaches, and food is loaded into the warming rack and steam tables. Gina instructs the second shift of volunteers to package foods for takeout (currently, takeout meals far outweigh dine-in), put desserts on plates, and finish setting up the serving line. Volunteers serve guests from 12:30 to 1:30 (seconds are offered at 1:15). Food is never wasted! If we have leftovers, they are distributed to the community or packaged up and put on the takeaway table the next day.
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Cleanup is ongoing with all pots, pans and plates, washed and dried. The kitchen and dining room are cleaned and sanitized and we are done for the day at 2 pm. Three hours of food prep, one hour of service, lots of cleanup, up to 125 meals in the books! Such an accomplishment takes a village! | |
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Gina has a special Irish feast planned for St. Patty's Week! As always, you can view the current lunch menu on our website:
www.skipfood.org/menu
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Photo by Eyestetix Studio on Unsplash | |
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT: JANE KOGAN | |
This painting is part of Jane's exhibition at the PAAM beginning May 27. | |
Jane Kogan has been at SKIP for 8 or 9 years now where she has earned the nickname “the onion lady”! She happily volunteers to peel and dice onions because she can cut them without crying which is a true badge of honor!! She estimates that last year alone she chopped over 5,000 onions! I had the pleasure of sitting down with our 82.5 year-old dedicated volunteer to find out more about her.
Jane grew up in the Bronx surrounded by classical music and art.
She was born an only child to a father who was a well regarded cellist (and a lawyer by trade), and a mom who was an amateur watercolor artist and kindergarten teacher. At age 12, she was accepted into the Art Students League of New York where she spent the next 4 years attending classes taught by prominent artists. She graduated Brandeis College magna cum laude (which she described as only second best!) with a degree in fine arts. Jane then headed to Rome on a Fulbright scholarship where she stayed in the Trastevere neighborhood in an apartment with no bathroom, stove, or refrigerator. She called it “living poor” on the $200 a month stipend, and recalls decorating her Christmas tree with the shiny silver foil circles lining the caps of milk bottles. But her frugality paid off and she was able to stay an extra year in Rome! In 1963 she returned to the States and. with the urging of her father, earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from Columbia University in 1965. She does not have fond memories of her time at Columbia, where the instructors didn’t like her preferred style of Cézanne painting and forced her into the abstract.
Jane’s first visit to Provincetown was on a summer break from Brandeis in August of 1958. She and her friend worked in a diner for a month while in town. Jane liked the idea of running a place where folks who needed food could eat cheaply. The most expensive item on the menu at that time was a 25 cent burger! She supposes this is where her affinity towards the Soup Kitchen in Provincetown began! Jane came back to Provincetown to stay in 1968 when she received a fellowship to the Fine Arts Work Center. In 1979 she purchased her historic 1878 Pearl Street home where she still resides today, surrounded by many of her large canvases. When asked how she would describe her style of artwork, she replied “different styles at different times, like Picasso!”. She has a leaning towards semi-abstract still life, and is known for her very large canvases (7 feet high and up to 4 feet wide) of partly-clothed “Amazon Women”, a name dubbed by her friends, due to the size of the pieces.
You can see some of Jane’s artwork this summer on display at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) beginning May 27 through July 24, 2022.
Thanks, Jane, for all you do for SKIP, especially for keeping the rest of our volunteers' lacrimal glands dry!
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Painting of Jane's father's quartet. Her dad is the cellist! | |
Although the number of Covid-19 cases are declining, the PUMC Covid safety guidelines are still in effect. As a reminder, please be considerate of your fellow citizens and refrain from coming to the soup kitchen if you are currently sick, have tested positive for Covid-19, or have been exposed to someone who tested positive for Covid-19. In addition, the PUMC asks that you PLEASE WEAR A MASK
• UNTIL YOU ARE SEATED
• WHEN IN THE SERVING LINE
• WHEN YOU ARE NOT ACTIVELY EATING OR DRINKING
• ALL OTHER TIMES WHEN NOT SEATED AT A TABLE
The mask mandate will continue through the end of the season to protect seniors and others who are at increased risk. For more information on Covid-19 precautions please visit the CDC website.
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SNOW DAYS
In case of snow or dangerous driving conditions, SKIP will be closed whenever the Provincetown school is closed. You can check www.capecod.com for the school closing announcement. Any SKIP closing will also be posted on Facebook.
Neighbor's Rick, Libby, Rob, & Mike helping
clear snow for Rodney Reetz
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With over half of the SKIP season over, we want to thank our volunteers for their service. Please be kind to all our volunteers who devote a lot of time and effort to serving our community! In consideration of all, please try to limit your requests for extras or additional takeout meals until we ensure all of our guests have been served at least once. | |
JOAN PEREIRA - We are sad to announce that Joan Pereira, a frequent guest at SKIP, died on December 29 at the age of 94 at Seashore Point. Joan grew up in Albany NY and was an accomplished singer before turning her attention to painting. She moved to Ptown in 1955 and studied with several amazing teachers. She was the only woman member of the Ptown Group Gallery, founded in 1964, and was a charter member of the Fine Arts Work Center in 1968.
Joan loved the light in Ptown and taught her children and her students to appreciate the uniqueness of that light. She taught at Castle Hill Center for the arts, the Cape Cod Conservatory and was artist-in-residence at the Highland House Museum in Truro. Her artwork was collected in Ptown and across the country. Joan had shows at Cape Cod Conservatory, the Community Art Center in Boston, and the Kornbuth Gallery in New Jersey. Her final show in Ptown was at Kobolt Gallery in 2018, when she was 91.
Joan’s artwork is hung in the back of the dining room at SKIP. She also donated a painting to be printed on a tile for a SKIP fundraiser in 2019 (pictured below). Thank you Joan for spreading your talent and love of art to the rest of the world.
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A special thanks goes out to volunteer Jean Caviness and to SKIP friend Siobhan Carew for providing beautiful flowers for the SKIP tables on Valentine's day. It was a nice gesture and it really made the room festive and bright. With Elaine Koss’s delicious homemade valentine cookies and the addition of Valentine candies on the tables, it was a special day at SKIP. | |
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Check out SKIP chairperson Phil Franchini's family's favorite recipe!
We're on the lookout for your favorite gluten-free or vegan recipe. If you'd like to share a recipe with SKIP for possible publication, email us at skipscoopeditor@gmail.com
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DUNESHACKSTRAIL
EASTEND
HATCHESHARBOR
HERRINGCOVE
LIBRARY
MACMILLANPIER
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PAAM
PILGRIMMOMUMENT
RACEPOINT
THEJETTY
TOWNHALL
WESTEND
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MARCH 2: Health Program - 11:30 to 1:30 @ SKIP
MARCH 16: Health Program - 11:30 to 1:30 @SKIP
MARCH 17: St. Patrick’s Day Celebration Lunch 12:30 @ SKIP
MARCH 25: Celebration of March Birthdays
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Beautiful World
a poem by Suzann Heron, Guest Columnist
Dedicated to: Thich Nhat Hahn
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Birds
flutter through the air
gracefully
land upon the pier
in one
easy dare
Sand
miles and miles of sand
swirl around, sand
from here, to
next day, there
on and on
and on
assembling
new land sand
Mountains
steep and rolling
and rocky
easy and hard,
climb but always
welcoming
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Trees, oh
the trees
our constant, visible and invisible support
reaching out to us
and for us
Sea
home to the
creatures and places
crevices and spaces
depths our minds
do not know, can’t
even imagine
sea,
always here
wrapping her wave arms around us
soothing our hearts
with her ocean song
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Sky
clouds
rain and snow
and wind
don’t forget about
wind
it offers such
fun
moves sails
lifts the seeds
and offers a good
glide
Well, rain
and clouds
and snow……
I could say more
but, you get it
and this poem is getting
quite long
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SKIP would love to feature our local talent. If you are a poet, artist, writer or cartoonist, we have a guest columnist section. Space is limited in this format, but please let us know if you would like to contribute to SKIP SCOOP by emailing us at: skipscoopeditor@gmail.com
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For those of you that prefer to take out your SKIP lunch, you can now bring your own bag! The Ptown Health Department is now allowing guests to bring in their own reusable bags for take away meals. Bagging must be done at the table after the service line as the bags cannot be placed on the service line. SKIP encourages you to bring your own bag, as this will help us cut down on the expenses in packaging. Thanks in advance & remember: BYOBag!!
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HEALTH PROGRAM
The Program involves health monitoring by a registered nurse for any SKIP guest who wants it. A nurse will be on-site to check blood pressure, review medications and answer health-related questions. The program is completely confidential for every participant. It will begin on Wednesday, December 1, and will continue on the first and third Wednesday of each month during SKIP’s season. The nurse will be available from before lunch at 11:30am until 1:30pm on those days.
HOMELESS PREVENTION COUNCIL
The Homeless Prevention Council has office hours in Provincetown from 10 - 2 daily at the Provincetown United Methodist Church. For more information, please refer to their website. www.hpccapecod.org/provincetown-community-support
TRANSPORTATION
If you are physically unable to get to SKIP, a friend or neighbor can pick up a lunch for you. If you have no one to ask, we may be able to arrange for delivery. Please call the SKIP office at 508-487-8331 to let us know about your special need. We will see if one of our first shift volunteers can drop it off or if Helping Our Women (HOW) can assist with delivery.
CROP SWAP IS UP AND RUNNING
It is a program sponsored by the Ptown Health Department, the Ptown Public Library and SKIP. Crop Swap is Ptown’s source for fresh, uncut fruits and vegetables and is open year round. Anyone may donate fresh fruits and vegetables, and all are welcome to take what they need. All fruits and vegetables are free. Please bring your own bag.
Crop Swap is located in the Ptown Library, 356 Commercial Street, to the left as you enter the front doors. Hours are:
Mondays & Fridays: 10-4:30
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays: 10 - 7:30
Saturdays & Sundays: 1 - 4:30
There is a refrigerator for perishable items and shelves with bins for non-perishables, such as potatoes and squash. Be sure to take advantage of this valuable resource.
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SUPPORT SKIP WHILE YOU SHOP
Did you know that simply by shopping at Amazon, you can support SKIP? Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases to the Soup Kitchen in Provincetown (SKIP). Just remember, to start each shopping session at the URL smile.amazon.com and select Soup Kitchen in Provincetown Inc. to receive your donation.
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PHIL FRANCHINI, Chairperson
MARK BJORSTROM, Vice Chair, Treas.
DONNA REARDON, Editor
MARY ASHLEY, Asst. Editor
LIBBY CRESSEY
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MARTHA FAGAN
RAYMOND INGERSOLL
PETER MAYE
ROGER SECOURS
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GINA LARKIN, Executive Chef| HILARY McHUGH, Office Coordinator |
DIDIER CORALLO, Dishwasher/Utility Person |
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