Food for all

Hello folks and welcome to the Open Doors Blog.

Evan Brandt here from The Mercury and I wanted to start this off on the right foot by talking about a question we all consider of vital importance -- what about the food?

It's probably very significant that the person who originally conceived of the Open Doors idea last year -- Melvenna Santiago -- is also the person in charge of the food.

Below I have posted a short story that outlines most of the food options for Saturday. Hope your mouth doesn't water too much...:)

POTTSTOWN — If you feed them, they will come.
At least that’s been how Melvenna Santiago sees it. And she should know.
In addition to being one of the people who first came up with last year’s wildly successful Open Doors event, she is also the person who is organizing the bounty of free food provided at the event.
“Last year, everyone got fed and it won’t be any different this year,” she promised.
Like last year, tables full of free food will be set up in the courtyard of Pottstown High School on the afternoon of Sept. 10 for the second annual Open Doors event.
Last year’s event boasted a long but fast-moving line of satisfied customers, many of whom got on line for the second time.
“I couldn’t believe how many people we had last year, but we fed them all,” Santiago said.
In addition to her signature fried chicken, the menu currently includes hot dogs and hamburgers, thanks to donations by the Montgomery Elks Lodge, business owner Terry Embody, Bethel AME Church, Invictus Ministries Inc. and desserts provided by Victory Christian Life Center.
Santiago said the teachers provide the fixings of the salad bar, which is manned by the students in the culinary arts program.
Cold drinks and fruit snacks will be provided this year by Wawa, along with water ice from Rita’s and culinary contributions from Pottstown’s Philly Pretzel franchise, said John Armato, the district’s director of community relations.
Some supplies have been donated by vendors tapped by the high school’s food service operation.
Both organizers said further donations, be it from area restaurants or motivated home cooks, are always welcome.
Santiago said some of her Hispanic neighbors have promised to provide dishes of rice and beans (a sell-out last year).
“We know the economy is bad and people may not be able to provide as much, but that just means we need more people, which means I need to do more cooking,” said Santiago. “Luckily, that’s not a problem for me.”