Soft Launch Reflection

Thanks be to God for our successful soft launch. We gathered early on Sunday morning, 2/14, in the kitchen of Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Ypsilanti to launch FedUp Ministries. I am sure there were some frantic moments leading up to our launch – with Pastor Anna and Pastor Sara picking up the donated food and wondering how they would put all of the food into their cars. We went to work, chopping, slicing and prepping.

What we learned during our soft launch:

• We learned that a case of cabbage would probably make 500+ servings of coleslaw.
• We learned that you can’t stuff wraps with too much filling.
• We learned that beets and dried blueberries were an interesting addition to coleslaw.
• We learned that there is a need for gluten-free and vegetarian options – they were popular.
• We learned that we could “make due” with the donated food – the salad dressing in the salad mix worked just fine for the coleslaw.
• We learned that kids are a great help in the kitchen.
• We learned that people are generous beyond all expectations.
• We learned that we need more merch.
• We learned that through the magic of technology, you can be two places at one time and through the failure of technology, you cannot be where you intended to be.

We served about 120 meals on on February 14. Seventy meals were served at Emmanuel and around 50 lunches were served at Samaritas Sequoia Place Senior Living Community. The remaining meals fed those in need at Peace House Ypsi and CARES of Farmington Hills.

We are thankful for the folks who came out to support our launch event (and to buy merch). We are thankful for the storage space and prep kitchen provided by Emmanuel. We are grateful for this mission launched in prayerful support from congregations and pastors in Southeast Michigan Synod, ELCA.