by Viveka Hall-Holt, Let’s Go Together Coordinator
A few weeks ago, we held our very first Potluck Project gathering in Snohomish County, WA. Fittingly, we met in a space that is transformed into a community kitchen twice a week to feed people in need. We called our event Neighbors Coming Together: A Feast of Food and Conversation.
Four communities hosted together—three churches and a mosque. With support from Paths to Understanding’s Potluck Project toolkit, they had spent months getting to know one another and planning how to bring their groups together.
Now the day was finally here. Each table was decorated with a vase full of flowers and a set of questions that would encourage people to begin getting to know each other.
In addition to the broader goal of building a more interconnected community in Snohomish, the leaders of the mosque wished to introduce their group to their neighbors, and the churches wanted to give them a warm welcome.
Once the guests started arriving, the tables at the front quickly filled up with dishes brought by community members that represented the cultural diversity of those in attendance —a true symbol of the abundance and generosity of all who gathered to get to know their neighbors. There was biryani and potato salad and curry and garden vegetables and cake…
In addition to members of each hosting community, the mayor and other city officials were there along with a representative from the local Hindu community and several people from the Pacifica Foundation that supports intercultural and interfaith cooperation.
Forty people had registered and nearly everyone showed up, making it clear that the Snohomish community was ready and committed to coming together like this.
We began with a welcome from leaders of each hosting community and the mayor of Snohomish while everyone admired and filled their plates with the bountiful food. Then a longstanding resident of Snohomish grounded us all in why we were there that day and offered words of gratitude for the meal we were about to eat together.
Six to a table, the places were filled with people from age eighteen to over eighty, each from a different group in Snohomish. The facilitators from each host group began by sharing norms for respectful and brave space, then invited participants to introduce themselves to their table fellow, share what groups they were a part of, and describe a comfort food from their family or culture.
As is almost always true in a gathering where people are really connecting, people were talking to each other the whole way through and paid little attention when someone interrupted with the microphone. Everyone was so focused on getting to know their neighbors!
Once people had taken a short break to grab dessert (if they could pull themselves away to do so at all), people at the tables began telling stories of what had shaped them into who they are and what community meant to them. Intently listening to each other, the time flew by.
At the end of the conversation, they shared dreams for what their Snohomish community would look like and feel like. Many said that they hoped for more opportunities to connect with their neighbors from other groups, like they had today.
Before we wrapped up, we took a few minutes to come back together as a large group to reflect on what this gathering meant to us. People at the tables encouraged their neighbors to stand up and talk about their experience because they had heard what their neighbors had to say and wanted them to have the space. Hearing from people with many different backgrounds and groups cemented what we had begun together.
The event hosts received a clear response from all who participated: This was a powerful experience, and we need to keep doing this together! People asked when the next potluck would happen.
In a time with so much hardship and division, beginning this work in Snohomish has been a joy—it was truly a feast of connection.