You're invited to dinner!
Published on August 31, 2024 by Eileen King
Once again, save the date for Community Night! This event continues First Church’s longstanding tradition of holding a community dinner in the first week of September to build neighborhood connections as college students settle in. We've teamed up with them to co-host the last two years and we're excited to do it again! Find us outside of First Congregational Church (500 8th Ave SE, Minneapolis) from 5:30-7:30pm on Wednesday, September 11. You can look forward to a baked potato bar and fresh lemonade, potted plants to adopt, homemade desserts, and meeting folks from Community Kitchen/First Church/the neighborhood!
All are welcome: neighbors, regular volunteers, social media followers, families, students, visitors both housed and unhoused - we'd love to share a meal with you. If you've been a financial or social media supporter but never had a chance to see the kitchen or meet some of the team, here's an opportunity to do both! We're thrilled to say hi, answer any questions, and get to know each other better.
In the meantime, here are a few quick updates for 2024:
- As of this week, we’ve served nearly 16,000 meals this year. That's thousands times that the pressure of finding a next meal has been taken off someone's plate. While that isn’t a substitute for the permanent systemic change required, it's also not nothing.
- In the last couple of weeks, we passed our fourth birthday. Heading into year five, we're deeply grateful for our relationships with our hosts at First Church, our hookup with Twin Cities Food Justice, and an increasingly solid volunteer base. We want to extend a thank you to everyone who this year has contributed time, money, baked goods, bottled water, shares on social media sharing and everything in between! (That said, September is a transitional month for many and therefore historically the hardest to fill volunteer slots in. If you'll have a spare Sunday/Monday/Tuesday afternoon, please consider taking a look at our volunteer signup!)
- While we were really hoping to pair this invitation with an announcement of our new fiscal sponsor, it looks like that's going to take just a little more time. Stay tuned!
Hope to see you in September!
Community Kitchen