January 27, 2020....
It has been just over two years since our last communal meal together. Looking back at these images, I see the objective of what still drives our program: We gather diverse members of our community around the "table" to build relationships and feed our bodies. While our execution of this objective has looked very different than originally imagined, we continue to connect, feed and build relationships.
While the pandemic has moved us away from communal meals, it has taken us to new places. On February 17 we will gather for our third "table" discussion. This event will be on Zoom, and we will be celebrating Black History together by discussing the films "My Name is Pauli Murray," "One Night in Miami" and King Richard. (See details below). Our table also grew to include the 40 families at Wellington Park as we provided meals at their community meetings each week as they navigated displacement. Through this process our volunteers connected families with resources, showed up beyond the meal program to help them move, visited them during low points and celebrated finding new homes. Advocacy was a natural outgrowth of our consistent proximity to the families at Wellington.
We continue to gather each Monday at Hope House to serve dinner and fresh produce as well as the second and fourth Wednesdays at Olive Branch, and I would say that both of these sites have become satellite locations for the old TV show Cheers, "where everybody knows your name" - minus the basement bar:)
Who knows where 2022 will take our program, but I am thankful to be on this path with old friends and new members of the Community Table!
