Marin collaboration keeps residents well-fed for holidays

Conscious Kitchen, the Cavallo Point Lodge and Performing Stars are providing gourmet meals to 50 residents who might not eat well otherwise because of pandemic isolation.

A partnership between a student-led meal program, a Sausalito resort and a nonprofit in Marin City will provide holiday meals for community members in need.

As part of a pilot program, Conscious Kitchen will supply the Cavallo Point Lodge cooking staff with organic ingredients to prepare meals for the Marin City nonprofit Performing Stars to deliver.

Performing Stars founder Felecia Gaston said the effort will provide meals to 50 people daily. The program started on Tuesday and will run until Jan. 5.

The menu will rotate each day. For Christmas Eve, the menu included roasted turkey with walnut stuffing and sides of Yukon gold potatoes, sage gravy, cranberry, French beans and carrots.

For Christmas, the menu is slow-baked honey-glazed ham with roasted squash, baby heirloom potatoes, creamed spinach and other trimmings.

Gaston said she is “honored and excited” to participate in the pilot program for the benefit of local residents who will not be able to gather this year because of pandemic health restrictions.

“We want to focus on senior citizens because most of them may not be able to visit with family,” she said. “A lot of at-risk seniors who live by themselves are concerned about COVID and are not going to gather this year. So this would be a hot meal just in time for the holidays.”

Michael Garcia, executive chef at the Cavallo Point Lodge, will lead the food and beverage team in helping Conscious Kitchen prepare the meals using ingredients purchased from Bay Area ranchers and farmers.

“Cavallo Point Lodge has been privileged to work with Conscious Kitchen over the past eight years supporting their work feeding children and families throughout our Marin community,” Garcia said. “We are pleased to be able to expand upon this relationship and provide delicious food for our neighbors in Marin City.”

Judi Shils, founder and executive director of Conscious Kitchen in Sausalito, said the nonprofit shifted its model to ensure the organization’s three Marin kitchens were staffed and able to feed both students and families locally sourced meals cooked from scratch.

“This holiday meals partnership is an extension of our COVID relief efforts and we’re thrilled to continue on this journey with our community partners to help us all through this unprecedented time,” Shils said.