The Community Kitchen is located in the Gillespie Center, 45 Jesup Road in Westport, behind the Restoration Hardware store

Gillespie Center Contacts:
• Jim Barber, Afternoon Supervisor, M-F, 4pm - Midnight
• Maryellen Estrada, Program Director, M–F, 9am–5pm
• David Kelly, Case Manager, M–F, 8am–4pm

Community Kitchen Serving Instructions

If for any reason you are unable to be there on your assigned date, it is important that you call the Volunteer Meal Coordinator and the Gillespie Center as soon as possible so other arrangements can be made.

Dinner is from 5:00 – 6:00 PM. The people arrive at 5:00 PM ready to eat. You can consider the dinner hour over at 6:00 PM. Do not serve seconds until 5:20 PM and then only if you can tell that all the guests have been served. Generally there will be a lull in the number of people coming to the serving window indicating that all have had their first helping.

Any leftovers that can be used for another meal are good to leave behind. Casseroles can be left if you do not want the pan back; or you can transfer the food into a Gillespie Center pan. All clean-up will be done by the Gillespie Center clients. The dishwasher is a commercial-grade one and the kitchen management prefers that a trained person operate it.

You can add to your experience at the Community Kitchen by eating dinner with the clients. They are curious about who you are and why you’ve agreed to provide the food and generally volunteers are curious about who the clients are and their experience being homeless. We are always glad to have children serve and eat meals. The quests who eat at the Community Kitchen welcome children. In many cases seeing you children will inspire them to become compliant with treatment so that they can be reunited with their own children.

The cooked meals should be brought to the kitchen by 4:45 PM. There is an oven/stove and a small microwave if you need to heat anything. Dinner plates, cups, napkins, utensils and beverages are supplied by the kitchen, although the diners would enjoy lemonade, iced tea or juice. All meals should be well-balanced and enough to feed at least 30 people. Please note that women and children may also eat at the Center and this may be the only cooked meal for many of the people. Fresh fruit is recommended for dessert, although regular desserts are enjoyable as well.

All the people involved in Gillespie Center and Interfaith Housing in general appreciate very, very much this essential service you are providing. Please call the Gillespie Center or Pete, the meal coordinator, with any suggestions for improving our service.

Take-out establishments that have been used in the past:
 

Angelina's Post Plaza Shopping Ctr. Post Road East 203.227.0865	Calise's Food Market 734 Post Road East 203.227.3257
Fortuna's 1244 Post Road East 203.226.3587	Stew Leonard's 100 Westport Avenue Norwalk 203.847.7213

Any of the local take-out pizza restaurants.

P.S. While pasta is an excellent staple, the Community Kitchen serves it many times throughout the week. The dinner clients would always be happy to have something other than ziti, although we are all very thankful for whatever you can do.

Recipe Suggestions from a Fellow Volunteer