A Community Dinner

At our Empty Bowls dinner last Thursday, we had two tables of bowls--one table held reserved bowls, and the other held what we called "community" bowls.  The idea of community has been something many of us have been thinking about throughout the Empty Bowls Project:  what constitutes the community of Westbrook Middle School, the community of our town, the community of the shoreline?  To whom do we owe our resources, our care, our attention?

The Empty Bowls dinner on Thursday may not have answered those questions definitively, but it sure offered a hopeful response--that our community is simultaneously intimate and vast.  It is our own family, our colleagues and school families; our town's small children and senior citizens; the people who serve and those who are served; those in need and those who are more fortunate; the small town of Westbrook, the shoreline, and the wider world.  How we act, what we do as members of "our community" matters.

Because of our efforts together, we were able to raise three thousand dollars to donate to End Hunger Connecticut and the Shoreline Soup Kitchens and Pantries.  But equally significantly, we grew in our understanding of the needs of our community and state.  We also engaged in the creative process of glazing bowls to share with others.  Finally, we had the pleasure of gathering for a community meal.

We hope you enjoy some of the photos from Thursday's dinner, from the volunteers preparing for the event to our guests enjoying a delicious meal with family and friends (old and new).  We'll have even more photos and conversation in the days ahead, so please visit us again...