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Thanks to the generosity of this congregation, we’ve been able to continue providing meals to Hope for Home. With a small, mighty crew we provide three full meals a month to 150 participants. I’m truly overwhelmed with this congregation’s commitment to serve our neighbors in need. Thank you!

  We work at creating a home cooked meal and often serve a simple casserole or baked pasta dish, a green salad, fruit and cornbread or garlic bread. Sometimes our budget allows for dessert and I’m told the participants appreciate our efforts, when we’re successful. When possible, we incorporate harvests from the Peace and Carrots Garden to offer a true Farm to Table experience. We are full of gratitude to the families that garden and share their bounty with us. There just isn’t anything better tasting than a garden-fresh meal. 

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This program happens because of a generous congregation and amazing volunteers. Special thanks to those who have helped and continue to help.

From my grateful heart, 

Corlan 

Sign-up to lead a Lenten Connect Group

Lent is the time of the Christian year where we connect and refresh our relationships as we contemplate and examine our lives. During this season we have Lenten Connect groups which meet weekly during the 6-weeks prior to Easter (February 26 through April 2). In the past, groups have formed around Bible study, bird-watching, walking, games, music, and spiritual disciplines, to name a few. What these groups all have in common is that they were all started by someone who has decided to share their passion or interests and welcomes others joining them.

Do you have an interest you would like to share?  Is there an area of interest you would like to invite others to explore with you? 

Click HERE to register the group you’d like to lead.

Forms are due by Sunday, January 22. 

Sign-ups to join groups as a participant will begin Sunday, February 5.

Questions: Dena Pence at 909-593-1364 or  dena@lavernecob.org

Local articles to start getting a perspective: 

• https://laist.com/news/entertainment/a-brief-history-of-the-tongva-people
• https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/genocide-slavery-and-l-a-s-role-in-the-decimation-of-native-californians
• https://www.cpp.edu/~tgyoung/Pom_Parks/Kizh%20not%20Tongva_9-27-17.pdf
• https://mila.ss.ucla.edu/

Adult books by indigenous authors: https://kaitlincurtice.com/2018/09/06/25-books-by-indigenous-authors-you-should-be-reading/

For kids: https://bookriot.com/native-american-childrens-books/

Dig deeper:

• https://blogs.brown.edu/chscholars/
• https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/native-american-boarding-schools/

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Peace Camp 2021, Peace Builders: Shaping our World with Creative Tools, was a weeklong experience for children in our congregation and community to learn and interact with peace building concepts. 

Daily themes included: Peace is built when we care for all bodies. Peace is built when we share a smile and our food. Peace is built when we care for the Earth. Peace is built when we create art, out of anything! 

Seventeen children and their families participated in a hybrid style Peace Camp, with Zoom activities taking place Monday through Thursday and an In-Person Peace Celebration taking place on Friday. Children received their very own Peace Camp Supply Bag, dropped on their doorstep, as well as a Peace Camp Service Project Kit. Peace Camp activities included Qi Gong, cooking peace pancakes, planting squash seeds, and the creation of a peace mandala. An original activity book was created for Peace Campers, but is available as a free resource HERE. As our service project, Peace Campers put together 55 educational supply kits for students in need, who attend Pomona Hope, a local after school program. Despite the pandemic, we were able to create a safe, well-curated Peace Camp for children, which was a beautiful thing! 

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Mike and Michael Wolfsen started a beautiful gardening program by building the Peace and Carrots Garden. It was originally designed to help feed needy neighbors by individuals growing a little bit more than what they needed and donating the extra to a community effort. While that program has proven to be productive with thousands of pounds of produce delivered to our local food bank, we recently have been using extra produce in our Hope for Home meals.  Monday, May 31, was one of those days when we offered Hope for Home a true Farm to Table experience. Eight pounds of Swiss Chard was the inspiration for the meal we made and served to 80 Hope for Home participants. The new garden management team consisting of Kristi Karns, Debra Kniesley and Corlan Harrison are incredibly grateful for the commitment the Wolfsen’s made to creating a program of community effort to feed hungry folks.

Michael Symon’s Orecchiette with Sausage and Swiss Chard

Ingredients

1 lb Orecchiette Pasta (we used Bow Tie Pasta)

1 lb Spicy or mild Italian Sausage

1 lb Swiss Chard roughly chopped with stems

1 cup Cooked Cannellini Beans (drained and rinsed)

8 oz Pasta water

½ cup Chopped parsley

1 T Lemon zest

2 T Lemon juice

½ cup Parmesan cheese

2 T Butter

1T Extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

Bring 6 quarts of water toa boil with 3 tablespoons of kosher salt. Cook pasta until very al dente, about 8 minutes. Remove pasta to a bowl with a slotted spoon and set aside. Do not rinse pasta and reserve one cup of pasta water.

Heat a large Dutch Oven over medium heat. Add the sausage and brown. Add Swiss Chard and cook down for 2 minutes add reserved pasta water and simmer for another minute. Add the beans and pasta simmer for an additional 2 minutes. 

Remove pan from heat and stir in the lemon juice and zest, cheese, parsley, butter and extra virgin olive oil. It’s ready to serve! Enjoy!!

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