Sandra granett - 2018 (brinley)
Back in 1991, Sandy Granett saw an ad in The Davis Enterprise seeking a volunteer cook for a new program that planned to serve meals to the hungry in Davis.
“It was just starting,” Granett recalls.
Davis Community Meals, as it was to be called, planned to prepare and serve meals in the kitchen and meeting hall at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church on Tuesday evenings.
Granett, who had recently retired from her position at UC Davis — she holds a doctorate in biochemistry — enjoys both cooking and contributing to her community, so she jumped at the chance to do both.
That first meal back in 1991 served about 20 to 25 people, Granett recalls, including some homeless folks, a few elderly people and some students on limited budgets.
They enjoyed a carefully prepared meal that included a meat entree, a vegetarian option, fresh cooked vegetables, salads, breads, desserts and drinks.
Some 27 years later, Davis Community Meals is still going strong. The nonprofit is now Davis Community Meals and Housing, now serves three meals a week and also manages a shelter and provides other services. But at least one thing remains the same: Sandy Granett is still a head cook, preparing the Tuesday meal.
“Sandy has been an indispensable part of our meals program since it began in February 1991,” said Bill Pride, executive director of Davis Community Meals and Housing.
Besides being a “magnificent cook,” Pride said, Granett also has recruited and trained many other cooks and remains a steadfast, kind and patient volunteer.
She plans menus, shops for staples, fills the pantry and reimburses others when needed.
And for all of that and more, Granett has been named this year’s recipient of the A.G. Brinley Award and will be recognized at the Davis Chamber of Commerce Installation Gala on Feb. 2.
The Brinley award was established by John W. Brinley in 1969 in honor of his father, Samuel Brinley, to recognize outstanding service in a particular area, such as in the arts, education or health, or in a major project that benefits the city.
Granett’s work on behalf of Davis Community Meals and Housing certainly fits the bill.
Granett, who lives in central Davis with her husband, Jeffrey, begins her head cook duties on the weekend, when she heads in to St. Martin’s to begin defrosting the meat for that Tuesday’s meal. Several times a month, she and Jeffrey head up to Costco to purchase pantry items and other needed ingredients that won’t be donated.
However, much of what will be served is donated by local stores, including breads and desserts, while many of the fresh vegetables and fruit are provided by Farm Davis and other local growers.
Granett’s job includes incorporating all of those items into the week’s menu, taking into account the varying tastes and nutritional needs of the guests, and ensuring enough food to feed 60 to 90 people every Tuesday.
She arrives at St. Martin’s early Tuesday morning, joined by a team of volunteers who handle the prep work — everything from chopping vegetables to making the fruit salad.
Other teams handling the gleaning — visiting local stores to collect food donations — preparing the dining room, serving the food and cleaning up. They decorate the tables with linen and cut flowers and serve the food buffet style, offering the volunteers and the guests a chance to interact and get to know each other.
Some of those guests have been coming to meals here for years.
Granett herself returns to St. Martin’s in the afternoon to cook, just as she has every week for 27 years.
“What enables me to do this for so long is I’m working with a lot of very nice volunteers,” Granett said.
She describes the Tuesday crew — comprised of some 40 volunteers in all — as a well-oiled machine. Those volunteers, in turn, describe Granett as an indispensable leader.
“Sandy Granett is one of the linchpins holding Davis Community Meals together,” said Lisa Nowell, the organization’s dining room coordinator.
“She not only cooks delicious meals, when I notice we are running out of something, I call Sandy. When something is missing, I call Sandy. When I need information about the meals program, I call Sandy. And she is always open, smiling, cheerful … she is a joy to work with,” Nowell said.
Susan Linz, who nominated Granett for the Brinley award, noted that there are many people in Davis who are well known for their community service, whose names regularly appear in the newspaper for their contributions. And then there are those “who quietly serve over the years at tasks that are less glamorous, but vital to our community and many of the less fortunate who live in it.”
Granett, Linz said, is one of those people.
“Those who are hungry can count on a satisfying meal … because of her efforts in this organization,” Linz said.
For her part Granett particularly appreciates when a guest asks to see the cook, to personally thank Granett, and to tell her how much they enjoyed the meal.
As she learns more about them, Granett said, she takes their personal needs — like food allergies — into account with menu planning.
“I try to cater to that.”
One longtime guest who has since passed away even took Granett to lunch himself one day at the The Graduate — just to enjoy a meal prepared by someone else while chatting.
“You realize that we’re all just people together,” Granett said. “And we’ve all had different opportunities and different gifts.”
“I’ve always said that what you give out, comes around back in again.”
For all that Granett has given, she’ll be on the receiving end of the Brinley award.
“She amply deserves to be recognized with this award,” said Davis Community Meals founding member Ernie Bieberstein.
— From the Davis Enterprise - December 24, 2018. Reach Anne Ternus-Bellamy at aternus@davisenterprise.net. Follow her on Twitter at @ATernusBellamy.
