By Emily Carter, Vegetarian Resource Group Intern

Our Daily Bread, a meal program hosted by Catholic Charities, serves more than a quarter of a million meals to people experiencing hunger across Baltimore, Maryland. They serve hot lunch 365 days a year to anywhere between 500 and 1000+ people. Additionally, they offer breakfast to seniors and people with disabilities and dinner to men enrolled in the Christopher Place Employment Academy. The organization relies on volunteers to make and serve food every day, with a greater need for volunteers to serve breakfast from 7 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and dinner for Christopher Place from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

There is opportunity for people who want to get involved in a more indirect and possibly less time-consuming way by cooking and donating meals. Our Daily Bread has a casserole program that is the backbone of the entire initiative. Anyone can make and donate a casserole! Casserole recipes can be found on the Our Daily Bread’s website: https://www.catholiccharities-md.org/services/our-daily-bread-hot-meal-program/#790c890569b87ce66

On the list of recipes one can make, 3 are vegan, and were created by the VRG’s food service advisor Chef Nancy Berkoff, RD! They are all fairly quick to make, depending on how many casseroles you wish to donate. 

Last weekend, VRG intern Amy Dell and myself made two sweet potato and black bean casseroles using a recipe on the Our Daily Bread website. It was very simple and only took us about an hour and a half to chop all the peppers, onions, and garlic and get the sweet potatoes fork-tender. (The time would have been shorter had we had a bigger pot to combine both batches). The meal smelled delicious, and inspired me to make something similar for myself! 

Homelessness and hunger linger everywhere as a silent enemy. Philanthropy may not be the best way towards food equality, but it is one of the tools we have as individuals to help create a world that aligns a little more with our philosophies. So if you are feeling inspired or have no evening/weekend plans, get some ingredients and casserole dishes and cook up a storm! Even if you are not in Baltimore you can still participate by donating to your local feeding site.

For another example of vegan cooking for the needy, see: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2015issue4/2015_issue4_vegetarian_action.php

For information on interning at The Vegetarian Resource Group, go to: https://www.vrg.org/student/index.php

To support The Vegetarian Resource Group outreach, donate at www.vrg.org/donate