Sunday, February 22, 2009: A day to remember. It was, of course, the day of the 81st Annual Academy Awards, but it was also the maiden voyage of SHIP, a unique partnership. SHIP, which stands for Santa Monica Humanitarian Interfaith Partnership is made up of four local churches and one synagogue, specifically: First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica; First United Methodist of Santa Monica; St. Paul's Lutheran Church; Santa Monica Synagogue and St. Augustine by-the-Sea. Peter Haight and I are the "SHIPmates" from St. A's. At the suggestion of the Clergy who had been meeting with each other for sometime, representatives from each of these organizations came together about a year ago, with the intent of sponsoring a Habitat for Humanity build here in Santa Monica. Unfortunately, due to financial and permit constraints, it was not possible to undertake that particular build. All of us, however, felt a strong urge to continue the partnership.

Over the months, we met regularly, looking for a project on which we could work together. This fall, we found it. It came to our attention that, on a nightly basis during the winter months, two separate armories in West Los Angeles and Culver City, shelter 150 homeless adults each. Their guests are picked up at predetermined locations and brought to these armories, where they are given dinner and a place to sleep. We took on the task of sponsoring both armories on one evening. We arbitrarily picked February 22nd.

Weeks in advance, we brainstormed just what we could provide. Teams were set up, including a procurement team, a cooking team, a "gift bag" team, and a delivery/service team. With the guidance of Richard Horowitz, a caterer who has worked for many years with First Pres, we put together a substantial and, we hoped, tasty menu: Meatloaf with gravy, mashed potatoes, broccoli with butter and garlic sauce, salad with a simple vinaigrette, oranges and home-baked brownies with whipped cream for dessert. Since St. A's has hosted and cooked the Mimi Adams Annual Christmas Eve Lunch for many years, serving over 600 people per year, we knew that we could handle the cooking in our fabulous kitchen. Jon Wilson, a "green" food specialist was our partner in buying great organic food from local merchants. From Jon, we learned it was possible to make this menu utilizing terrific organic food, purchased through local farmers. Talk about win/win!! With Jon's help, we were able to procure grass fed beef, broccoli, salad, oranges and no-peel potatoes, all from his contacts at the Santa Monica Farmers' Market and at a cost which beat non-organic grocery store food.

On Wednesday, the procurement team, led by Jon Wilson and Steve Pesce from First Pres shopped the Farmers' Market while Leslie Frischers of Santa Monica Synagogue made a Costco run to provide the rest of the food supplies.

On Saturday morning, Steve and Jon picked up the most perishable foods from the Farmers' Market and brought them to St. A's. Sunday morning, parish members from St. Paul's Lutheran, St. A's and First Pres brought in 300 home-baked brownies. Along with 150 pairs of new white socks from Santa Monica Synagogue and a similar number of new knit hats and gloves from St. A's, these would be delivered to the armories on Sunday evening. Sunday, at 2:30pm, the cooking team led by Richard and Carole Horowitz, gathered in St. A's kitchen to begin peeling, chopping, mixing and cooking. The sous chefs consisted of Peter Haight, Mary Balthrop, Charlie Hoover and me, Mindy Staley. For the next three hours, we worked hard to turn out the menu. Feeling like contestants on "Iron Chef America", we raced to get it done on time, and, to our taste, it was pretty darned good!

Starting at 5:45, the Delivery/Service team, led by Elliot Gordon of Santa Monica Synagogue, Tamara Rosenberg of St. Paul's and the ubiquitous and indefatigable Steve Pesce of First Pres, the Delivery and Service Team split into two groups and loaded the vans to take our precious cargo to the armories. Vowing to work together again, the cooking team cleaned up and went home to catch the rest of the Oscars. We hoped that the armory guests would enjoy the food as much as we had enjoyed preparing it for them. Later that evening, I received a flurry of emails from the Delivery Team telling us that our food had received a standing ovation from both groups! Not bad, and somehow fitting for Oscar Night.

What a wonderful event, and what a terrific maiden voyage for SHIP. AND at a total cost split five ways among the parishes of under $1,000! Our satisfaction in putting together this evening is only tempered by the reality that this was one night out of the hundred or so that these two armories are open for business during the winter. We hope to sponsor more evenings when they reopen next December. And we plan to add haircuts and entertainment

This summer, SHIP will be hosting a "Heal the Bay Clean-up Day." Stay tuned for information about that. With Habitat for Humanity, we will also be sponsoring several "Brush With Kindness" days in Mar Vista. We'll be getting back to you with dates as soon as we have them locked down.

If you have any ideas about other projects SHIP might sponsor, or would like more information about our group, please contact Peter Haight at phaight@aol.com or Mindy Staley at mindy@psone.org. We'd love to hear from you!