Whats your favorite Dish?
Everyone has a favorite dish. It’s uniquely yours. No one can take it from you. It is part of what makes you, you. At The WISHDISH Project, we use that building block to give meaning, inspire, and celebrate individuals in the homeless community.
In New Orleans, we interview the community to find their favorite recipes to include in a cookbook. In Boston, we visit Common Cathedral (Ecclesia Ministries, Inc.) each week and cook an individuals favorite dish for all of the guests in the community to enjoy. In other cities it may take on different forms, but underneath them all is the mission to give dignity, respect, and meaning to the individuals of the community it serves.
Who we are:
The WISHDISH Project was founded by Jeanie Gruber, owner of Miss Jeanies Catering and Events Co., an acclaimed Boston-based company providing full-service catering and more.
What we do:
Everyone has a favorite dish. The WISHDISH Project is a high-impact, grass roots organization making favorite dishes of the homeless communities in Boston and New Orleans. Our goal is to engage in and cultivate authentic conversations about food and culture in our cities. By engaging in this dialog and asking the simple question of “what is your favorite food memory dish,” we hope that we can bring the comforts of home to each of our participants. In collaboration, we are able to capture the story and each participants love of food while feeding those in need through shared home-cooked, healthy meals that nourish the mind, body, and soul.
How it works:
We work with local shelters and kitchens serving the homeless. We interview participants on the street and engage them in conversations about the foods and flavors that transport them to a feeling of home. The memories are re-imagined into real recipes that are home-cooked by Jeanie herself, gifted to the individual, and shared with the community in honor of each participant. Through this, we celebrate regional culture and heritage, sharing meals and stories that both tug at the heart and fill the soul.
How to participate:
Please feel free to approach Jeanie or either of her partners, Sandy Rivlin or Lori Pedrick, at anytime during our visit. We deliver meals to Cathedral Commons every Wednesday between 10-noon, and Boston Rescue Mission every Friday. We would be honored to work with you and treat you to your favorite dish!
About the founder:
JEANIE GRUBER (aka “MISS JEANIE”)
CEO/Founder/Author/Caterer/Visionary
Miss Jeanie began catering small gatherings in the 1990s. She had a full-time psychotherapy career, a young family, and no intention of making a career change. Fast forward to the present day: Miss Jeanies Catering and Events Co., the business Gruber began, is entering its forth decade as a one-of-a-kind food business. As the founder of The WISHDISH Project, Miss Jeanie takes her catering style to a whole other level. She blends her love of cooking with her love of conversation and connection.
A Louisiana native, she possesses that enviable ability to make anyone feel at ease with her southern warmth and graceful charm. A successful psychotherapist in the early days, Jeanie also loved to entertain. One day when a close friend asked if she’d cater a party, Jeanie answered with a resounding,“Yes!” This love of food, friends and fun soon translated into a successful catering company unlike any other in the Boston area. Twenty years later, this self-taught cook is still turning ordinary events into extraordinary affairs – bringing her wisdom and whimsical style to all her projects, including her work with The WISHDISH Project.
Say hello at:
info@thewishdishproject.com
(617) 834-5846
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