City Repair presents…

The Community Dinner Project (an Earth Day and VBC fundraising event)

Start a Community Dinner in your neighborhood!

1) Pick a date and contact City Repair for an information package about The Community Dinner Project (communitydinner [at] cityrepair [dot] org).

2) Gather your friends and neighbors for a meal (prepared by you or potluck style).

3) Help City Repair fundraise for Earth Day and VBC.

4) Sign up volunteers for Earth Day and VBC (City Repair to provide information materials).

5) Drop off the money you raised during the meal bringing us one step closer to making Earth Day and VBC a possibility!

City Repair has been involved with the facilitation of placemaking in communities with projects such as the Earth Day Celebration and the Village Building Convergence (VBC). Food has been a way for communities to gather throughout history and in Portland, OR, the issue of food security and where we get our food has become a central point of a movement toward localization of the food we eat.

In the tradition of creating gathering places for communities, this spring The City Repair Project is helping to organize ongoing Community Dinners in communities all around Portland. The initial gathering will help to raise funding for the annual Earth Day celebration and the Village Building Convergence, City Repair sponsored events that bring together individuals and organizations to celebrate localization.

Ongoing Community Dinners within neighborhoods are the ultimate goal of the The Community Dinner Project. We hope to facilitate bringing neighbors together in building relationships that will evolve into sharing meals on a regular basis. As the foundation of relationships becomes solid within a community, other sharing projects can begin to flourish; sharing childcare, tools and gardens as well as the sharing of skills so that neighbors can help each other in many different ways.

The connection of neighbors has always been the goal of City Repair projects, particularly the Village Building Convergence (VBC) which helps to facilitate projects in many communities each spring for the past six years. As part of the Earth Day celebration, communities will be presenting planned projects for this year’s VBC celebration in May. Other communities are invited to join projects as volunteers during the 10 day event in May when most of the building and construction of the project will take place. Communities hosting their first Community Dinners this year are invited to plan with their neighbors to organize projects for 2007.

By filling out and returning this questionnaire, you will be helping us create a list, accessible to all, to see a network of friendly gathering places and events throughout Portland.

1) Name:

2) Address:

3) Phone Number:

4) Email address:

5) Date of your Community Dinner:

6) How many people can you host?

7) Would you like assistance in helping create a Community Dinner at your home?

Thank you so much for your help in creating community and making Earth Day and VBC6 happen!

Peace,

Bob New, Earth Day Coordinator
The City Repair Project
communitydinner [at] cityrepair [dot] org