The Tea letter

Dear Tea person,

Thanks for volunteering to do Tea next week. Here are some notes we've prepared about how it works; feel free to call on me if you have any questions.

- the Tea chairperson

Some Rules and Suggestions for the Tea people:

1) The budgeted amount is $20 per day, and you will be reimbursed for any receipts you have (for tea stuff) up to that amount, but not more. Keep all receipts until the end of the week, and give them to Monique Brown in an envelope with your name and a note that they are for tea, and a reimbursement check will be issued to you as soon as the system permits.

2) What you need to do:

a) Decide what you will be serving and purchase the food. (This usually means one or two trips to the store, depending on how well the food you have chosen keeps.) You can store food in the common room refrigerator and in the unlocked cupboard above the microwave. Sometimes there is leftover food in the cupboard or fridge from a previous week which should be used up.)

The cupboard and surrounding area also contains supplies such as plates, cups, napkins, plastic ware, baskets, trays, and pitchers.

b) Check in advance to make sure there are sufficient plates, napkins, cups in the cupboard; if not, let the staff know and they will see we are resupplied. (You should not buy supplies.) There are cups stocked with plastic knives, forks, & spoons ready for use. There are plenty of paper plates and paper cups to be used for tea. Please use open supplies before opening new ones.

c) Set out the food before 4:00pm each day of your week and clean up around 4:30pm. If it is impossible for you to be there some day, send a note well in advance to the asking them to set out the food by 4:00 each day that it is needed and clean up around 4:30pm. Please be explicit in which days this should be done; that is, if its for the entire week, say "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday". Please also be specific in saying where the food is and exactly what should be placed out each day. Also have them make a fresh pot of coffee (4 scoops of grounds).

d) IMPORTANT NOTE: Please ONLY ask the staff to put out food and clean it up. If any preparation needs to be done, please take care of that yourself. We don't have the help nor fully equipped facilities available for extensive preparation, including peeling, cutting, and such like.

3) Please store food only in the fridge and in the cupboard above the microwave. Keep the counter areas clear---this is our common room, not a kitchen.

4) WASH TRAYS, PITCHERS, AND OTHER SERVING DISHES BEFORE PUTTING THEM BACK. After you wash your serving dishes, please put them back where you found them. Please do not put dirty dishes in the cabinet and especially dishes with food in them. We are having bug problems. If you notice the serving napkins need to be washed, please drop them off in the staff office for washing.

5) ALSO IMPORTANT: At the end of the week, let the staff know the location of any left-over food, particularly perishable items left in the refrigerator; we will have these put out in the morning for people to snack on or else the next tea host will use them. We don't want food to be forgotten for months . . .

6) Common choices for tea items are cookies, cakes, crackers, cheese, juice, vegetables & dip, etc. Be creative, or if not cookies, cheese, and crackers seems a fine staple. Fruits are also very good.

7) No alcohol is to be served at Tea.