August 1st, 2020

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We are glad to be back and cooking during this time. Additionally, this is our second cookout in quarantine. This month we came together as a community and served The Sophia Way shelter. This cookout would not have been possible without all of the volunteers that signed up to help us. There are a few things we are doing differently due to the current coronavirus situation such as making videos, cooking in our own homes to maintain social distancing, and making sure to follow the CDC guidelines for washing our hands while cooking to avoid contamination. Ria has been uploading procedural videos on how to cook the meals, which makes it easier for others to recreate the recipe. These videos are especially beneficial for our younger volunteers to follow the step-by-step instructions. This month we had a Mexican cuisine, consisting of enchiladas, tres leches cake, and a salad. Ria, Neha, and I enjoyed making the tres leches cake, while the rest of our volunteers enjoyed making the salads and enchiladas. Neha has been using chat groups to engage our community and coordinate sign-ups for cooking and dropping off. This is really important because it helps us stay on track while staying remote, while also involving more families. For this cookout, the cooking slots that we opened up for volunteers filled up very quickly. Multiple families helped cook, so we were able to make and donate a large quantity of food. We are so glad that we are able to serve the shelters during this time! Although our cookouts look different and feel different, we are still happy to be serving the shelters and providing them with food.  We were able to serve more food thanks to all of the volunteers that helped make this cookout possible! All in all, this cookout was successful and we cannot wait for next month!

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