Weitsman funds Rescue Mission dining hall renovations

Entrepreneur Adam Weitsman recently donated $100,000 to fund completion of renovations for the Rescue Mission’s dining hall.

The Rescue Mission Alliance’s goal of serving free meals year-round to anyone in need just became more of a reality with a generous donation from local Weitsman.

Weitsman, CEO of Upstate Shredding, restauranteur and philanthropist, has committed $100,000 to the renovation of the organization’s Clarence L. Jordan Food Service and Culinary Education Center, a charity facility that serves three meals a day to people in need, as well as offers food service industry training to help its patrons secure well-paying jobs.

In 2018, the center served more than 190,000 free meals to men, women and children in need.

Three meals per day are served seven days a week, 365 days per year. In recent years, the Rescue Mission Alliance launched The Capital Campaign to raise $185,000 to renovate the current food service facility.

Named after the organization’s past director who passed away in 2018, the new Clarence L. Jordan Food Service and Culinary Education Center is set to open in November 2019 with enough dining space to accommodate anyone in need, and to serve them with dignity and respect.

The education component of the center is to provide instruction in the food service trade to empower those living in homelessness and poverty and to them find employment opportunities.

The new dining hall will be named after Weitsman’s three daughters (Clover, Rae and Monroe) to recognize his contribution.

Following the announcement of Weitsman’s donation, The Rescue Mission Alliance celebrated the grand opening of the with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, followed by lunch service in the expanded and renovated facility on Nov. 7. The first meal, which was open to the public, was provided by Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, while Wegmans supplied the desserts.

Presenting at the ceremony was Capital Campaign Chair Graham Brodock, Chief Executive Officer Dan Sieburg, Senior Philanthopy Officer Carolyn Hendrickson, and Rescue Mission supporter Andrea Kimball. The Rev. David McCallum, vice president for mission integration & development at Le Moyne College, performed the prayer of dedication.

Centerstate CEO Ambassadors presented a certificate of recognition before the ribbon-cutting. Present for the ribbon-cutting were Brodock, Sieburg, Hendrickson, Board President Nicole Woodall, Board Member Christopher Gardner, Director of Food Services Karl Dawkins, and Mrs. Janet Jordan, wife of the late Clarence L. Jordan.

Thursday’s ceremony was the culmination of a $5.8 million project spanning more than four years.

“Believe: a Warm Meal and a Way Home” was a two-phase capital campaign on the Rescue Mission’s 8.5-acre campus in Syracuse to meet the need for meals and emergency housing in Central New York.

Completed in 2015, Phase 1 included the renovation of the Rescue Mission’s former recreation center into the Alice C. Barber Day Center and Kiesewetter Emergency Shelter. Overnight capacity increased from 132 beds to 183 beds and essential services were centralized in one location. Phase 2 was the expansion and enhancement of the food service center.

“This project was long overdue and will have a tremendous impact on the people we serve for decades to come,” said Sieburg. “Our new food service center will allow us to meet the growing need in the community, and will ensure those we serve will continue to be treated with dignity and respect.”

In 1987, the Rescue Mission acquired an old print shop on Gifford Street and turned it into a dining facility. That space, which opened in 1993, was designed to serve 100 people per meal or a maximum of about 300 meals a day. Twenty-five years later, much of the facility remained unchanged. What had changed, however, was the growing need.

Lines formed outside the building before each meal, even in inclement weather. The Rescue Mission now serves up to 700 meals in a day to men, women and children in need. No one is turned away. Lack of available seating meant families sometimes needed to split up during meals.

The Rescue Mission remains the only organization in Onondaga County that serves three free meals daily. In 2018, the Rescue Mission served nearly 200,000 meals at its campus in Syracuse.

“The food service center is more than just a place where meals are served; it is the central point of contact for the Rescue Mission,” Sieburg said, “It is where we as an organization connect with those who have unmet needs. It is here we can come alongside them to address whatever next steps they need to progress and move forward in life. It is how we put love into action.”

The food service center bears the name of Clarence L. Jordan, a longtime Rescue Mission executive director and honorary board member, who passed away in September 2018.

Parsons-McKenna Construction Co. was the general contractor. King + King Architects was the project’s architect. During the entirety of construction, the Rescue Mission continued to provide meal service in a temporary dining room located at 155 Gifford Street.

Friends and community members are encouraged to get involved and make even a small gift to help finish the project.

Those interested in contributing can visit rescuemissionalliance.org to learn more about the organization and donate.