Ceres Community Project
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My dear friend Pete found out he had lung cancer last October. I felt helpless and needed a way to use the surge of energy this news created in me. I signed up to be a "Delivery Angel" with The Ceres Project to deliver a weeks worth of food each week to the clients on Thursdays. The food is free for the first few weeks. The clients are amazed by this generosity and I believe this act of giving heals them as much as the nutritious and delicious food. I love doing this! As if that wasn't enough, the fact that teens are doing the cooking, preparing incredibly delicious, organic healthy food for folks with life threatening disease bridges so many issues that have been disconnected. The clients, volunteers and teens are learning the healing properties of food and we're all experiencing the healing power of working together as a community to help people in need. This is a very special organization and I'm honored to be a part of it.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
My friend Pete and his family received the food while he was ill. They raved about how delicious it was and how moved they were to receive such a gift. I bought the cookbook myself and use it weekly to cook for my family. It's also my favorite gift.
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How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
About every week
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2010
My partner was diagnosed with cancer last year and Ceres was an important element that helped our family deal with the situation. The food was incredible and love was a major ingredient. The project encompasses so many people with their big hearts and the education the students get is invaluable. I would love to see the project thrive in every state. It is a gift that every cancer patient deserves.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
Their services greatly helped my daily schedule in knowing my partner had healthy food to eat when I was at work.
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What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...
The joy of eating delicious, healthy food.
The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...
all so friendly and happy to be helping the project.
If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...
grow to other parts of the state and help teach other states to emulate the process.
How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
About every six months
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2010
My husband was diagnosed with widely metasticized cancer when our little boys were 2 and 6. To suddenly have all the physical, emotional and financial demands of trying to research and heal his cancer at the same time as all the demands of a young family, was overwhelming. Preparing daily healthy homecooked meals was not possible. I don't have words to express what a difference the Ceres Community Project made in our lives, on all levels. In addition to amazingly, literally feeding us, the Ceres folks helped us feel cared for and held so beautifully. The meals sustained us during a devastating time. They were healthful, generous, delicious and even took into account all our dietary restrictions; and they were delivered with real love.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
being able to bring my family through the hardest time in our lives.
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How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
One time
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2003
The Ceres Community Project truly saves lives. About once a week for the majority of my high school career, I made the pilgrimage to the Ceres kitchen and experienced what it feels like to heal people in dire need. The food we prepare for our clients is crafted with love and care, and every single teen who helps with a meal puts their love and hope into the food. It's always been difficult for me to decide who benefits more from the project, our clients, or the teens. An experience I had in the kitchen a few months ago can illustrate the impact our program has on all of its participants. I was washing dishes with a few other teens, when a woman passed through the doorway. We could tell immediately that she was a client by the scarf she had wrapped around her bald scalp, and by the bag of containers she was bringing back to us. We greeted her, chatted for a brief moment, and then she paused, and said with no preamble whatsoever, "I want to thank you for saving my life." Then with a warm, grateful smile she passed from the kitchen. How many 17 year olds can say they have experienced something like this? In the Ceres Project, we are all aware of the lives we are giving back to our patients, and of the impact our work is having on us. Ceres is an incredibly unique program that deserves far more than 5 stars!
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
I have become quite a good cook and I am looking forward to volunteering for the rest of my life.
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What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...
The sense of welcome and community that eminates from the kitchen and from the delicious food we create. I also love the joy that comes with giving your time and love to another with no thought of return.
The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...
Everyone from homeschooled kids to honor students graduating from high school, retired professional chefs, and caring members of the community.
If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...
Ceres could prepare more food for people in need, and save more lives.
How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
About every week
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2010
Last year I was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease that resulted in brain surgery. It was a very difficult time. Ceres Project was a godsend! The meals were delivered by friendly and respectful people, the food was beautiful to the eye and incredibly delicious, made with healthy and nutritious foods, and the servings were very generous-they fed me and those caring for me. It was a huge relief to have food taken care of so that I could rest and my helpers could do all the other many tasks involved in my recovery. I'm eternally grateful for this nourishing and practical support that Ceres provides.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
my recovery from a serious surgery.
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How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
One time
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2009
This is a phenomenal organization, and it was started by one woman - proof that an individual can make a difference; kids from the local high schools are brought in to cook, volunteers from the community deliver the food, and the food is very health, whole foods that help in the healing process. This project touches all ages in the community and as Cathryn Couch says, "food is nore than just feeding someone - it's nourishing to the soul and to the whole person". I'm so thankful to be a part of this incredible organization. Thank you Cathryn. Nancy Aita Sebastopol, CA
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
When we deliver the food to the patients, their thanks, their heartfelt appreciation is phenomenal - and having high school kids participate is incredible
Ways to make it better...
If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...
Get them more $$$ so they could serve even more people - they've done an outstanding job and continue to do so. Thank you.
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What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...
All of it that I do, which is food delivery.
The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...
Incredible human beings; the students are being taught to cook healthy, helpful foods and are incredibly involved in the whole process - when a client dies, it really affects the kids.
If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...
Continue it's work, and do more cooking classes
Ways to make it better...
None that I can think of
In my opinion, the biggest challenges facing this organization are...
Having enough money to make it a complete organization -
One thing I'd also say is that...
We're always told you need more than one person to make a difference; Cathryn Couch, the found of CERES did make the difference, and now is involving others to help her continue to make a difference.
How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
About every month
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2010
Being part of the group really made me feel like I could make a difference. It's amazing to be a part of something like that, not to mention the recipes and fantastic cooking tips we bring home with us.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
When people who we've cooked for send us letters and cards to thank us for all the help we've given them, it makes the whole idea of the organization feel so real.
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How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
About every week
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2010
I volunteered my time and expertise as a photographer with the people at Ceres and I have to say that no organization has ever touched me and moved me the way this one has. I knew very little about the organization when I first started. I was chatting with a friend, lamenting about how I wanted to volunteer my time for a good cause but the organizations I had contacted did not respond to me. She perked up and said she had the perfect project for me with the non-profit she worked for - the Ceres Community Project. So I met with her one morning and we spent the day photographing the people who make this organization work - the hundred hands that make this vital community service possible. Every person, from the fish vendor at a local supermarket to the farmers growing the vegetables, from the teenagers learning how to cook nutritious and delicious food to the delivery people carrying the food off to the people who truly needed it, everyone was glowing in the knowledge that they were a part of an organization that was making a deep and true difference in the lives of many. Ceres FEEDS the people - everyone who works with this company or who is touched by this company wins. Teenagers gain vital knowledge of healthy nutritious food and how to prepare it well. They take that knowledge with them when they leave their homes for college. People sick with cancer get to have a welcome relief knowing that they and their families will be well fed through this most trying time of their lives. Additionally, they are given access to meditation and cooking classes plus other resources that will ensure they get healthy and continue being healthy long past the end of their illness. As for the people like me, the ones who volunteer their time for this organization, we get the satisfaction of knowing we are touching peoples' lives and helping them when they need it most. All of this is possible through the work of this organization: the Ceres Community Project.
Photos
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I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
My review mentioned it mostly but I have gained the desire to want to give more - more to this organization, more to other valuable non-profits, and more to my community.
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How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
One time
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2010
Ceres is a wonderful community project. It creates a win-win situation - providing excellent nutrition-dense meals to seriously ill people, while teaching valuable life skills to local teenagers, who are cooking those meals. I was truly blessed to recieve carefully selected, lovingly cooked and beautifully presented meals every week, for all the six months that I was going through the chemotherapy in 2008. It was such a great help! These meals were delivered to my home absolutely free. I wish every community had such an amazing group helping people in need. Thanks God, I am well now. I am still staying in touch with Ceres, this time I am benefiting from their free health classes. I have learned so much from their excellent presentations! Ceres helps people when they are ill and empowers them to take better care of their health. It inspires teenangers, supports caregivers, brings hope to lonely people. Ceres builds health of individuals and health of the community as a whole. Great project!
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
improving my health over the last two years. I received weekly prepared meals when i was going though the chemotherapy. All the meals were nutrition dense, beautifully presented and free. Later, I benefited from the Ceres health lectures.
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How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
About every month
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2010
Ceres is a comprehensive program to help bring together all components for optimal health of body, mind and spirit of each person participating in the program. Whether it is a patient in need receiving care, or a loving provider of care, this program is a model for communities throughout the world who really want a healthy, vibrant and supportive life together. We are all connected and Ceres program helps to connect the dots.
The Great!
I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...
learning about food as medicine. Ceres project educated me on how nutrition can play a vital role on healing my body and as I see my optimal health on the horizon. Each day I feel better and better thanks to the program.
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How frequently have you been involved with the organization?
About every month
When was your last experience with this nonprofit?
2010
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