One of St. Matthew’s longest-running outreach efforts is the Provide-A-Meal Program we participate in with the Brookside Cluster of Churches. Our next meal is September 22 and we would appreciate any help you can provide!! If you can help at the event, or can donate prepared food in advance, please let Marian Hahn know. Her phone is 216-406-2065 and her email is mhhahn27@gmail.com
The outreach address is 4200 Pearl Road, Cleveland 44109, which you may know as the Old Brooklyn neighborhood. Preparation begins at 3:00 and the meal is served from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.
We typically serve about 40 guests at the event and send home a meal if we have extra food. We serve all ages from children to seniors. There are various reasons for guests to seek out meals, primarily low-income Social Security or Welfare needs.
If you cannot attend the event, another way to help is to contribute food. This month we are preparing the Chicken Sliders Recipe. Prepared food should be brought to church on or before the 10:00 a.m. service 9/22/24. This is our standard practice and works well! We will warm the chicken prior to serving.
Chicken Sliders/Sandwich Recipe
Ingredients:
- 5 lbs Boneless/Skinless Chicken
Sauce:
- 1 and 1/2 cup Barbecue Sauce (Sweet Baby Ray’s is great!)
- 3/4 cup Seedless Raspberry or Strawberry Jam or Jelly (Note: Any flavor is fine but be sure to use a seedless variety. Seeds can cause problems in digestion for some of our guests. If you do not or cannot use a seedless variety, please skip this ingredient)
- 1 Small Chopped Onion
- 3 Tbsp Chipotle or Chili Powder
- 3 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
Preparation:
- Mix Sauce ingredients
- Place chicken in pan
- Pour sauce over chicken, cover with foil
- Bake at 350 for 1 to 2 hours until chicken reaches a temperature of 140 or juice runs clear
- Shred with all sauce and juices
- Let cool and place in large plastic bag
This outreach was started in the 1970’s by the West Side Ecumenical Ministries (WSEM), which is now The Centers for Family and Children. Meals were originally served at Archwood Methodist Church or at the WSEM Pearl Road location. When the closure of these locations threatened to end this effort, The Brookside Cluster of Churches Community Meal Program was born.
St. Matthew’s became involved in the program over 25 years ago. Marian and Dennis Hahn and Tom Kelly have been faithful volunteers over the entire life of the program. Suzanne Hrusch has been awesome at getting restaurants to donate food.
Let’s come together to make a difference!
