[The Montclair Times] When we last checked in on Toni's Kitchen — the warm and welcoming drop-in dining room at St. Luke's Episcopal Church — Tara Chowaniec and Anne Mernin were explaining operational details to the day's volunteers (my daughter and I among them).
Tara and Anne are assistant outreach director and director of outreach respectively, and let's just say, they've mastered the art of directing a bunch of well-intentioned novices with good cheer and a can-do attitude. In fact, Anne laughs when I tell her she's like a benevolent general.
Volunteering at Toni's Kitchen has been our 12-year-old's mitzvah project (an undertaking made by a child in his/her Bar/Bat Mitzvah year) this semester and it's been a joy to observe her willingness to get involved. And why not? For more than 30 years, they've been serving hungry guests equal portions of food and compassion, along with services that include skills-training and a "Whole Health" preventive program (in collaboration with the Mental Health Association of Essex County) which helps keeps seniors from slipping into homelessness.
