Live music, activities for kids, and a wide variety of food is expected to fill Knox Hall this Saturday at the Stronger Together Community Potluck, being held from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
According to Organizer Robin Davison, the first two events were a great success.
"We fed somewhere between 80 and 100 people, and the third one is on track to be just as successful, and it's just to bring the community together," she shared. "It's a great diverse cross-section of our community. We have working-class people sitting down with non-working-class people. We have churchgoers breaking bread with people who don't go to church. It's a really amazing opportunity to bring people together for a sense of community, a sense of togetherness, a sense of hope, so that nobody feels like they're in this alone."
Davison said feeding people is one of her passions, especially with rising grocery prices causing food insecurity for one in four Canadians.
"The way that grocery prices keep increasing is devastating to a lot of people," she commented.
She noted that, even since the first event was held in April, Statistics Canada has adjusted the number of Canadians facing food insecurity from one in five to one in four.
"So it's increasing, it's getting worse, with no end in sight. I don't claim to have all the answers, but I do know for sure that we are stronger together. So that's the idea behind the potlucks."
While it is called a potluck, the event does not require everyone in attendance to bring food. In fact, Davison said upwards of 20 community members are preparing food for this Saturday. This is to ensure 100 people get fed.
"Some of that is just a salad, some of that is a full entree, and some of that is desserts. We have people baking bread. I have some businesses within the community that are also donating their time and resources to filling up the bread table.
One of the best parts about a potluck, she noted, is that people get to try other peoples' cooking, and maybe even be inspired to diversify their own recipe repertoires.
"It's a huge conversation starter to see all the different recipes to see all the different preparations of the food," she noted. "It's a great opportunity to chat with people about how they made it or what they would make differently next time. It really brings people together. It's so nice to see."
Once again, a kids' table will be set up at this event, which will include a variety of activities including Play-Doh, stickers, construction paper, and more.
"We hope everybody brings their kids. We hope everybody brings the whole family."
The live music for this event will be provided by J.P. Harmony and Pat Acton, Robin Davison, as well as others, and even some collaboration. In fact, Davison said the music is part of why they've enjoyed hosting the free event at Knox Hall, rather than outdoors this summer.
"Knox Hall has a PA system that we use that makes us sound really good," she explained. "I toyed around with the idea of having one potentially like in River Park, but the slightest amount of wind would really complicate things. There'd be paper plates and napkins everywhere, and rain would complicate things as well. So for now, we're going to stick with an indoor event."