The Shared Dish Experience
Picture a slow cooker filled with beef and vegetables, simmering in a delectable stock for 12 hours to develop the flavor. Maybe you can recall the aroma of a family dinner from your childhood as you read. Just like this delicious dinner, our community benefits greatly from time, opportunities, and assets compassionately given.
Similar to popular meal-kit products on the market today, The SharedDish is providing care package meals for our neighbors along with a Crock-Pot to easily cook them. All the meats, veggies, spices, and ingredients are provided with simple instructions for preparation.
Distributed twice per month, these free meals make a delicious difference for our neighbors! Creating simple and healthy recipes keeps good food on the table where less nutritious options are often so much cheaper and more available.
The SharedDish began by serving unhoused individuals, but they connected with BridgeBuilders through our co-founder, Velma Mitchell, to bring their services to the South Dallas Community Market and South Dallas senior citizens in our JOY Program.
SharedDish founder Sue Benton tells us, “I’m super excited. I think this is just the beginning. I hope I’m demonstrating Christ, being His hands and feet.”
The meal kits are assembled mostly by church volunteers, who help distribute 140 meals per week. The financial blessing of a free meal is vital, and The SharedDish has served almost 3,000 meals in their first year. Crock-Pot also got involved in their own way- donating many of the slow cookers that have been given to our neighbors.
For our seniors, Sue and her team demonstrating the cooking process for each meal and gathering to enjoy it makes the joy sweeter. They get to taste the meal they’ll be taking home and enjoy fellowship.
This has become a team and community-building project for the volunteers, who exercise their compassion and gifts for serving others. Retirees volunteer to stay involved in their community, creating a mutually beneficial relationship.
South Dallas doesn’t have access to local grocery stores, so the need for unique ways to serve neighbors with healthy options and alternatives to the typical grocery store is ever-present.
“I’m hoping to spread the love through food, food is the tool,” Sue says, “we hope to demonstrate Christianity in a different way.” We’d say that mission has been a success.
One review from a senior neighbor tells a clear story:
“The roast beef- you put your heart in it!”
– Mary L, Bonton Resident
Giving funds and services is a step toward sharing in all things, and when you share a dish together, eating for energy can become dining with delight. We’re thankful for partners who come to our neighborhood to do that work.
Check out our new friends at theshareddish.org or on Facebook at The SharedDish!
