The Juice, by Tropicana Trop50
Bless others with food
Almost two months ago I experienced a devastating loss when my best friend of 27 years lost her 9 year old son. No one is ever ready for something like that because it hits you so hard and so fast and it literally takes your breath away and leaves you reeling. Having not ever gone through anything this devastating before I was so grateful for those who stepped up to help us through those first couple of weeks as we muddled our way through all that needed to be done. In particular, having meals delivered to the house was an amazing blessing to the family. Here are some tips I learned throughout the process that I thought might be beneficial to others wanting to prepare a meal for someone in need.
The last thing anyone suffering a loss cares about is cooking. Bringing over meals is a nice and generous idea and the best way I found to coordinate this service was with the use of an online site called Food Tidings. This is an excellent system that requires one person to set up a schedule and then simply send out invites to others asking them to sign up on any of the available days to bring a meal to the family. In addition, each volunteer is asked to record what type of meal they'll be bringing which is particularly helpful for alleviating duplicate meal types back to back. It also allows you the opportunity to know whether there are any family likes, dislikes or allergies and how many people will be in attendance. A note to the scheduler though, please remember to leave space for a leftover day.
You might immediately think of the Lasagna as the perfect meal to bring to a family in crisis. I understand this as it's a comforting and delicious one dish meal that is easily portable and freezes well. However please know that many people are also thinking this very same thought and so to avoid Lasagna abundance I'd love to offer you some simple yet equally pleasing alternatives.
It's also a nice touch to include some garlic bread and an easy dessert with the meal if you can. Please remember it doesn't have to be fancy or even elaborate, whatever you are able to do is so appreciated. With so many other details to worry about, not having to think about food is such a huge blessing to the family. Even if you don't have time to prepare a meal bringing over baking of any kind (homemade or store bought) is helpful as the family will have plenty of visitors popping in and out of the house all day long.
One other word of advice I'd like to share is to please use disposable dishes where possible. With someone new bringing dinner each day the dishes start to accumulate pretty fast and take up valuable space in the house. To return them is just one more thing for the family to think about. If it's not possible for you to use disposable dishware offer to come back the next day to pick up your dishes.
If you've never been sure or comfortable bringing someone a meal please let me encourage you to not be afraid. Even if there is no schedule set up, bringing over something that freezes well and can be heated later means that if the meal isn't needed that particular day they can simply stick it in the freezer for another time when it will be needed. It's such an amazing gift!
Have you blessed someone lately with food? Do you have any other suggestions or recipe ideas you'd like to add? Please feel free to add them to the comments below.
Posted In
Sponsored Groups
BlogHer Conferences
- Home
- About Us
- BlogHer Community
- Conferences
- BlogHer Network
- Special Offers
- Contact Us
Follow us on Twitter:
@blogher @bloghersupport @blogherdeals
Become a Facebook Fan
© Copyright 2010 BlogHer | Terms of Service
Comments
Food blessings
I grew up in a rural community, and it was always a common practice to provide food for others during times of sickness, loss, when a new baby arrived, etc. It was just part of life -- you really didn't "think" about doing it.
After living in the community for 30+ years, my mother was the recipient of such kindness last year when my father died unexpectedly. I can't tell you what a blessing it was to her (and to the rest of us). The blessing didn't come only from receiving the food. The thought that people would take time from their busy lives to do something so thoughtful, drop it off and actually visit for a minute -- that's what touched us most.
Because I'm an organizing nut, I love the idea of a schedule. It eliminates duplicate foods, etc. But as my mother so wisely reminds me, we need to let people do what they know they can do (whether it's because of time, finances or skill). Otherwise we limit them, and everyone may miss out on the blessing (whether in giving or receiving).
Great article. Thanks for sharing.
Food blessings
Boy, does this post hit home with me. I am recovering from a somewhat minor surgery, and those who know and love us have absolutely blessed us by bringing meals to our home. Some were scheduled, and some completely unexpected - and ALL were welcomed.
I look forward to checking out the site, and appreciate the other alternatives to lasagna (we can vouch for the fact that variety is delightful!).
Other tips
I have a number of recipes which people in my church, school and neighborhood like. I try to always keep one prepared and in the freezer to be available at anytime. If I don't have it prepared, I at least try to keep the ingredients on hand at all times. That way, even with my own busy schedule, I can still have a meal prepared for someone in need within a day or so of hearing about hem.
What about BIG families...
We have a culture where it is quite the norm to take around meals for families in need: whatever the need... Every time we have another baby folk gingerly ask us if we would like a meal... And the look on their face is always "please say no" !!! Which I quite understand!!! With almost eight kids I know it can seem overwhelming!!!
But snacks are great... a batch of muffins, a loaf of bread and a chunk of cheese... really just grabbable food is fabulous... I really don't expect meals for ten of us!!!! That being said we were once gifted with a watermelon as a snack solution when we had a new baby and I looked and looked and looked at it - but never got my hands free enough to cut it and eventually gave it away!!! Quick hands free snacks are the perfect way to go...
When a friend of ours lost their child a couple of months ago I made sure that every time I baked I just baked double - for the longest time... she had three other little kids to cope with and her grief. The mom said she appreciated it the most because, while everyone brought them meals there was always someone who couldn't face what was served and she would just grab something from our baked box to tide that little one over to the next meal. Snacks are it guys!!! If you can't face making a meal, trust me snacks will be appreciated!!!
I can so add to this subject
I lost my son in June, the next few days were a blur and still I am in the land of numbness. The few things I thought would have made my life easier: paper plates and paper cups, less flowers delivered, less fruit baskets. We actually got three fruit baskets in one day from the same place. You think someone would have noticed!. Not that I am complaining, but worrying about what to do with all the flowers and fruit was not something I needed at that time. I found easy foods, like lunchmeat, casseroles, Yes we did get three different trays of baked ziti. Things we could just put on a plate between services or after service was a comfort. And yes deserts were helpful as we had lots of visitors who would stay hours for coffee and tea. Anyways I have now stocked up on paper plates and cups, (when I see them on sale) and small cans of coffee and prepackaged sugar and stirrers. When I need to send a care package I will either make a desert of some sort or buy a pre-made something and send it over with the coffee, sugar, stirrers and a container of milk. Also gift cards to a local grocery store or restaurant is good as money was very tight with all the needed things we had to purchase for the funeral