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In celebration of The Martha Project’s national debut on The Rachael Ray show, Chef Nicole and the team curated a screening party and invited some of our volunteers to come celebrate this collaborative win. Nicole really wanted to honor all of our volunteers and take this opportunity to feed them for a change as a way of saying thank you to them for feeding the thousands of houseless individuals we have served to date!
The afternoon kicked off with a light cucumber lavender elixir that guests were invited to sip as they trickled in from across the city. Nicole came out to thank everyone for their service and introduced the tasting menu she had created to honor them. Stand out dishes included her burrata and stone fruit salad, white almond gazpacho and definitely the main dish, inspired by her grandmother Martha: grits and “scallops” created with oyster mushrooms. For dessert, the guests enjoyed our stone fruit galette from our five under five dollars series.
After the guests spent their afternoon enjoying the beautiful spread, they were invited inside to watch The Rachael Ray screening together and enjoy the fruits of their collective labor. Before hitting playback, Nicole led everyone in a guided gratitude meditation to get everyone in their heart space before watching. We watched the screening all together as a collective team of individuals who decided to be the change they wanted to see in the world. Nicole curled up on the couch and held her mother’s hand through the screening. There was not a dry eye in the house. The Martha Project was so honored by the way the Rachael Ray Team had shared our story with so much beauty and dignity.
After all the happy tears subsided and guests were given an opportunity to share what this project meant to them, they were encouraged to go outside and write anonymous love letters to the houseless community while enjoying the beautiful healing music of Kyle Lardner. Swaying to the music, our guests of honor poured their hearts out into these love letters.
Once the letters were completed, everyone constructed individual love kit packages to give to the houseless, which included a generous donation of coconut yogurt from Cocojune, homemade lavender cardamom granola, and a drink. Each love kit was completed with the anonymous love letters from the volunteers and as they left they were encouraged to take five to ten love kits home with them to spread the love out into the community throughout the day!
All in all, it was a stunning event and everyone left with hearts beaming with love, hope, and pride for the goodness they have put out into the world.
