Meal Train® for Afghan Refugees in Southern Vermont

35 Adults, 5 Kids Brattleboro, VT Drop-Off: 11:30am-11:45pm
Afghan Refugees in Southern Vermont

Meal Train® for Afghan Refugees in Southern Vermont

Afghan refugees have come to Southern Vermont through the Brattleboro Multicultural Community Center-Ethiopian Community Development Council (MCC). They are spending their first days housed at the School for International Training while the initial steps of their resettlement are accomplished. They have very limited access to kitchen facilities, so all their meals must be brought in from outside, either freshly prepared, or frozen, to be reheated when needed. Our new neighbors are offering a cultural orientation and ESL program on SIT's campus. The community providing lunch makes it possible for all to eat and attend class. Local partner Loaves and Fishes provides a fresh lunch every Tuesday and Friday, and Everyone Eats has supplied frozen meals. MCC has been able to provide dinners. The aim of this Meal Train is to provide a fresh main dish for lunch regularly. Please click the yellow “Review All Instructions” button below for more details....

Recipient

Afghan Refugees in Southern Vermont

Organizer

Ursula Nadolny of ECDC-MCC

124 Participants

Recipient Info

Allergies or Restrictions

We are providing a Halal diet. There are many forbidden foods for Muslims. These are referred to as Haram. Some examples: Do not use any alcohol, vanilla extract, or alcohol-containing essences. Do not use pork in any form. Do not use ingredients containing rennet, gelatin, blood, or animal fats (except fats naturally within halal-certified meat). Allowable foods are referred to as Halal. Any meat/poultry/seafood or meat/poultry/seafood broth that you include in your ingredients MUST be certified Halal (which means permitted foods for a Muslim), clearly marked on the package. IT IS BETTER TO OFFER A VEGETARIAN DISH that you are sure contains nothing Haram, than to offer a meat dish where you are not sure of the certification. Dan Yurco, the manager at Hannaford, has said that they carry fresh Halal certified beef, lamb, and chicken at the store in Brattleboro. Specifically, customers should look for: Nature’s Promise grass fed beef, Farmers Focused chicken products, and Catelli lamb. He stated that all of these carry the Halal certified seal (but please look for it yourself, to be sure you are getting the correct thing). The Brattleboro Food Co-op carries Farmers Focused as well, and there is a discount if you pre-order a case. More information about Haram and Halal can be found here: https://www.icv.org.au/about/about-islam-overview/what-is-halal-a-guide-for-non-muslims/ and here: https://www.gfs.com/en-us/ideas/eating-according-religious-practices-kosher-and-halal Again, it is perfectly fine to prepare a vegetarian meal as long as its ingredients meet Halal requirements!

Food For

35 Adults, 5 Kids

Drop-Off Time

11:30am-11:45pm

Special Instructions

To help our guests feel more welcome, we are trying to prepare dishes that are familiar to them from home. So this is a chance for you to learn a little about delicious Afghan cuisine! Please prepare a main dish of your choice using recipes from one of these websites: http://www.afghankitchenrecipes.com/ https://www.afghanyummyfood.com/ https://afghancooks.com/recipes-2/ You may use another source of Afghan recipes if you have a good one. Please be generous with the spices, herbs, salt, and oil called for in the recipe: we have been hearing that they find our versions of their dishes somewhat bland, and that "we especially want spicy food when we feel sad." Table spices (salt, pepper, chili pepper, cinnamon) are already provided. If you really want to, you may add a side dish or dessert, but these are not required. If you deliver in dishes that you would like back, please label them clearly with something that won’t come off with washing. We will let you know when-where to pick them up. Serving utensils are not needed. You are welcome to arrange to partner with others to share the work, and we now have our signup arranged so people can individually sign up to make just half the food. We also have a volunteer who would like to make dessert only, once a week - let us know if you’d like to have them add on to your meal. For any joint efforts, please coordinate with each other to have only one person do the delivery, to limit COVID exposure risk and demands on staff time, and respect everyone's privacy. Delivery is to the International Center on the SIT Campus. This is the largest of the white buildings on campus. During weekdays, Jill Williams or a volunteer will help you unload your car. If you have difficulties you can call Jill at 802-380-2971. If you are a cleared volunteer with the program, we welcome your help serving your dish and invite you to sit down and eat with everyone. This accomplishes the meeting of two needs: ensure everyone gets something to eat and fostering connections with the wider community. Call Stacey, MCC Program Manager, at 603-903-5621 with more questions.

Meal Drop-Off Location

Brattleboro, VT

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Calendar

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Updates

Honoring Ramadan

UN

March 31, 2022 by Ursula Nadolny of ECDC-MCC

Greetings to all! Thank you all for your generous responses to lunch needs and for your extra efforts to cook with the Afghan taste buds in mind. Even pizza! There will be no lunch needs for the month of April due to Ramadan. Happy Spring to all!

Mid March Update

UN

March 17, 2022 by Ursula Nadolny of ECDC-MCC

Hi, all - I managed to miss last weeks message (....), so am re-sending this week's a day early, and adding some info. The SIT campus continues to be a hub of activity, despite fewer numbers and many working or looking for work. We've come to a good crossroad where a combination of community meals and in-house (Afghan) cooking keep everyone going. Nevertheless -- The surprise news is that Afghans have recently been asking for PIZZA - go figure. So if anyone is interested, you should know that the Brattleboro Pizza at Exit 3/Putney Rd has been a reliable favorite. Four (4) family-sized pizzas seem to do the trick (no pork products, please). If you're so moved, the Afghans will definitely appreciate the gesture. We still have around 25 on campus, and will see more of our friends move out in the coming week or two. Thanks to all for your continued support....

March Updates

UN

March 4, 2022 by Ursula Nadolny of ECDC-MCC

Greetings and gratitude to all! Reminder that Tuesdays & Friday donations are covered by Loaves and Fishes, so no need for other volunteers to consider those days. In the meantime, people are still moving off campus, so we anticipate lower numbers for lunch. Right now, we see a need for a total of 50 people for meal preps. Please note that we've not yet been able to change the sign-up to reflect this 50 person need, so please keep that in mind. We'll be up-dating those numbers soon!...