Dining for Dorcas

Cathedral friends,

My partner, Roger Haenke, and I hosted the Dining for Dorcas Summer Garden dinner Saturday last week, Jul 31. We consider it to have been a huge success. We had never thrown a dinner party for 25 people before, at least not one where we were cooking everything ourselves! So we were a little stressed that we had so many coming over, expecting a gourmet meal. The guests were right to expect an excellent meal, because we had asked them to make a significant donation to Dorcas House in return for their supper!

It all started back in 2008 in Seattle. I met Roger there and we decided to bring our lives together. At the time, my father was ailing and I was offered an opportunity to move back to San Diego. Roger agreed to join me. As we discussed how life in San Diego might unfold, we both agreed that we wanted to do fund-raising activities in our own home. We both are avid cooks and love to entertain, so it seemed like a natural fit. In Seattle, we both attended St Mark's Cathedral, and Roger was received there. I had attended St Paul's in San Diego before having moved to Seattle. So when we came here, I told Roger I knew exactly where we should start going. I was received at St Paul's Easter 2009. But we still hadn't fulfilled our dream of fundraising while entertaining.

Then we started to learn about the children of Dorcas House. So how could we put this all together? And thus was born Dining for Dorcas. We envisioned inviting 8 people to our home and cooking them a scrumptious meal in return for their making a $125 donation to Dorcas House. We would provide the food, drink, and our time and effort, 100% of the money would go to the kids. We would do the event quarterly, hoping that others would join us and host similar events at their homes. Thus, we hoped, Dining for Dorcas would grow.

Well, 8 people became 14 at the fist pilot dinner back in April! We simply don't have room for that many people around our table. But we are members of a Cathedral, miracles are part of our daily lives, right? Thanks to the carpentry skills of a certain Bishop we all know, we were able to expand our table with an extension, allowing us to accommodate 14.

For the Summer event, we wanted to do a Garden Party. Since it's usually warm, we thought we'd do the dinner in the back yard. This would allow us to invite more people. We ended up seating 18 people and had 5 helpers plating, serving, and cleaning. We served Hors d'oeuvres in the Dining Room, and had set up the table outside for the main dinner.

Once everyone was eating, Chris Harris led a discussion of Dorcas House that got everyone talking about their experience at the Cathedral and with Dorcas House. Emily Velez-Confer gave an interesting and emotional account of her late husband's experience as the first Director for Dorcas House. We all sipped wine and had dessert as evening turned into night.

If you enjoy dining and the company of others in an intimate setting, why not sign up for the next Dining for Dorcas event, scheduled for October? If you love to cook or have a home that would be suitable for an event, contact us to host your own Dining for Dorcas event! And of course we can all go visit the children firsthand. The next trip to see the kids at Dorcas House is scheduled for Saturday Aug 28.

This past Saturday went so smoothly. I commented to Terri Mathes that Dining for Dorcas seems to be taking on a life of its own. I really like the momentum we are seeing with this. "That's how it happens", she said. Many thanks go out to the following people, both within and outside the Cathedral, for their help in making this event happen:

Flowers and setup: Donna Shepherd, Betty Hauck, Vicki LaBarre, Vaughn Bollard.
Tables and chairs: Bob Oslie and Daniel McMillan.
Linens: Top Hat Catering
Serving: Dana Fillmore, Ossie Batista, Maria, Brooks Mason, Shawn Anderson

Until next time,
Jeff Bates.

Click on any picture for a closer view.