With the rumble of the last pick-up vehicle still ringing in our ears, it is time to reflect on and thank all those who led and participated in the 2023 Food Festival. First, let’s look at the enormity of what was accomplished.
The FF looks like it happens in only two days, but the reality is that the planning started right after the 2022 Festival ended and the cooking and baking commenced as early as January 2023. Selling $22,000 worth of homemade food is no small task. Hundreds of pounds of ingredients and thousands of pieces of finished product require a significant amount of coordination, preparation, and ultimately cooking/baking. Starting in January right up to the day before the pick-ups are made these teams are preparing food for the TBI customers. Rhoda Goodman and Sue Needleman not only provided the leadership and organization to the cooking teams and their leaders but also acted as team leaders for some of the foods and participated with the teams on others. Without their efforts there would be nothing to sell. They deserve special thanks for their work. We also should thank the cooking team captains:
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| Leslie Aronson | Sue Needleman |
| Jane Bogursky | Marsha Ostroff |
| Naomi Goldman | Lori Reitsma |
| Rhoda Goodman | Karen Rines |
| Heather Needleman | Judy Rogato |
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Thanks also to all those who participated on the teams. Many individuals found their way onto multiple teams.
While the cooking process was underway, Barbara Katz was a one-woman dynamo handling the website design to take orders and schedule pick-ups. In addition, she was the chief architect on the marketing plan that included print, radio, and tv support for the 2023 Festival. We saw customers from Nashua all the way up to Northern NH. Her program had a reach that was far and wide. She did this with no marketing budget….A pretty amazing job.
The last step, and maybe the most complex to implement was the picking and handling of over 300 orders in less than two days. While Karen and Joe Lukeman spent most of 2023 traveling, as soon as they arrived home, they jumped right into the planning and recruiting for the pick-up process. This year with the help of programs developed by Eytan Wulfsohn and Barbara Katz, real pick documents allowed for sequential picking right from the storage refrigerators and freezers. Picking 20 orders per hour was no challenge with the systems and processes in place.
The Food Festival certainly requires a lot of dedication and hard work from the many volunteers; too many to name here.
Making, marketing, and distribution of 300 orders and thousands of homemade goods is no small task, especially for a temple with only 70 or so families. The congregation should stand in awe as to what the team accomplished in 2023 and thank all those who contributed their time and expertise.
