For every Christmas meal kit sold, Director of Sales Lisa Brasgalla says Urban Foods will donate a similar meal to families staying at the Ronald McDonald House.
"Due to COVID, the Ronald McDonald House has had to suspend their Share a Meal Project," Brasgalla explained. "They're not allowing volunteers to come in and prepare meals. ... They're only able to accept meals prepared by catering companies and restaurants or they are able to accept groceries and then their staff will then prepare meals."
Brasgalla said Urban Foods Catering owner Jeff Reitz is "all about family and the community and giving back."
"What Jeff said to me is that if we can provide food or a meal to a family over Christmas, hopefully that will save them money on groceries so they can maybe purchase more gifts for their kids," Brasgalla said.
Urban Foods Christmas meal kit feeds four to six people and includes beef tenderloin, garlic and herb-roasted potatoes, candied baby carrots, broccolini, roasted squash with candied pecans, and a fresh garden salad with vinaigrette.
The cost is $160, which Brasgala said may seem high to some, but the proceeds are going towards a good cause. She also said purchasing a meal kit is a "gift of time" for many.
"Businesses with five or six employees have called and purchased our Christmas dinner for their employees as a way of giving them the gift of time," she said.
The deadline to order meals is Dec. 18, and meals can be picked up Dec. 23.
Urban Foods Catering also used a portion of its Thanksgiving meal kit proceeds to help local families in need. For every kit sold, a kit was donated to a local family in need.
Brasgalla said they sold out and likely could have sold 150 more. She expects to sell enough Christmas meal kits to feed 40 to 50 families at the Ronald McDonald House.
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The Joy Project
The buy-a-meal, share-a-meal project isn't the only way Urban Foods Catering is helping those in need this holiday season. They've also partnered with The Joy Project, a local effort to provide Christmas meals to those living in homeless shelters or low-income housing projects organized by Marisa Bengston-Loerzel.
Bengston-Loerzel founded The Joy Project in 2013 after noticing a school bus dropping children off at the Grand Inn in Moorhead.
"The first thing I did was ask myself what a school bus was doing at a hotel. I thought maybe their parents worked there. Not long after it dawned on me that they were going home. That they lived in the hotel," she said.
"If you live in a hotel, you're spending a lot of money day by day just to live there. Even if you had money to buy a meal, how are you going to cook it?," she wondered.
So, Bengston-Loerzel reached out to her Facebook friends for help. They prepared meals in their homes and dropped them off at local hotels and the Gladys Ray Shelter that year.
Volunteers with The Joy Project served dinner to over 40 people at the Gladys Ray Shelter in 2017. Special to The Forum.
"We ended that year, I think we served maybe 150 people," she said. And it's steadily grown every year since.
Due to COVID, many shelters are unable to accept homemade meals and goodies this year, so Brengston-Loerzel reached out to her friends at Urban Foods Catering.
"I wasn't expecting them to cook, but I said, 'Can we maybe use your kitchen?' And they replied, 'We'll do the cooking, too. It will be great,'" she said.
Brasgalla said Urban Foods staff and volunteers will gather Christmas Eve to prepare, package and deliver meals. They expect to serve 400 to 450 this year.
"It's just so amazing," she said. "My Grinch heart has grown 200 sizes" since we began planning these projects.
Bengston-Loerzel has independently raised the funds needed to feed the families. She also has a network of volunteers who bake and buy goodies as well as gifts.
"One of the best things about The Joy Project is the friendships I've made through the years," she said. "Once people volunteer the first time, they're hooked and want to do it again. So I really get to know people, and every year our circle gets a little better," she said.
Despite the COVID pandemic, Bengston-Loerzel said donations have been strong this year.
"Things are really good. I feel like this is probably the most generous people have been," she said.
To learn more, visit Urban Foods Catering and The Joy Project on Facebook.
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December 14, 2020 at 09:00PM
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Urban Foods Catering using meal kit proceeds to feed families in need - INFORUM
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