UUCM takes part in the Montclair Emergency Services for Hope (MESH). MESH is a project of the Montclair Clergy Association and was created to rally the support of our community to help protect our most vulnerable neighbors from the harsh elements.
MESH will continue its ‘Grab and Go” meal service for the foreseeable future. They still need volunteers to prepare and package meals. There will not, however, be a resumption of the sit-down “Cafe” style service, the movable feast which UUCM used to host on Wednesday evenings in Fletcher Hall. UUCM will still assist in providing the Wednesday evening meal, just without the sit-down, Cafe component. This ruling comes from the MESH organization.
As MESH’s primary mission is to provide meals to those who are food insecure, that mission will remain its focus. Many of us will indeed miss the extended time to connect and get to know the clients we welcomed into our space on Wednesdays. That “Cafe-style” service is not necessarily gone for good. For now, emerging out of a pandemic, the MESH parent organization, with the blessing of principal founder Rev. Wade Renn, will continue its ‘Single-location Grab-and-Go” meal distribution.
Albie Monterossa, Chair of the MESH board, writes this: “We feel having the Grab and Go in a stationary location is what’s most efficient for our guests, especially those with mobility issues. Our hope is that all of our partners continue to be active participants by delivering the meals to one location and staying during the service to engage, offer prayer, converse, bring music etc. The sentiment remains the same!”
Our MESH Collections: When there is a month with 5 Sundays (four or five times a year), there will be just one collection at each service, and MESH will get the entire collection. Not changing, not even a little bit, is the UUCM MESH commitment that every penny received is used to buy food for the guests. No exceptions. Thank you so much to everyone who contributes to UUCM MESH via the UU collection, donations in honor or memory of an event or person, or out of extreme generosity.
For questions and more information, please contact David Bronstein.