Neighbors Gather for Dinner

Neighbors Gather for Dinner – What it looks like to feed and serve our small neighborhood a meal. Ideas to inspire you to gather your community of neighbors at the table for dinner.

Hey Friends,

I’m here to share a recent gathering we hosted in our small town here in Pennsylvania. So small in fact that our most recent census put as at about 1,000 people. That’s it.

It’s been my desire for years to get to know my neighbors. Those who are living among us. And we’ve gotten to know quite a few people via girls nights, Sips and Sweets on the Front Lawn and more.

But most recently we partnered with a local church to bring Neighbors Gather for Dinner. We hosted a spaghetti dinner FREE to the entire community. Only catch? You have to come to eat free spaghetti. 🙂

With the help of the local church and lots of volunteers, we served over 110 plates. Praise God. What a beautiful display of community, serving and just getting to know your neighbors. My heart was so full!

We served spaghetti, meatballs, french bread, salad, and desserts. We played soft music. Offered a few gift cards to local businesses as door prizes. We encouraged conversation by placing  Get to Know your Neighbor sheets on the tables. The local fire company brought crayons and coloring books for the little ones.

Just for you, I’ve created a more colorful version of our Get To Know Your Neighbor. Use it at a block party or your next neighborhood get together to spark conversation.

Get the > FREE PRINTABLE HERE. <

Putting this together was no easy task but partnering with the local church allowed me to do something that I’ve dreamed for a long time of doing.

Want to host a local event to gather your neighbors for a meal? Tips to help.

1. Find a local church or organization to partner with.
   • Partnering with another organization takes all the pressure off of you. You work as a team which is what this is about anyway. Bringing people together.
2. Find someone with experience.
   • We had a wonderful woman who had served meals like this before. She knew how to estimate amounts, what to prepare for, how many volunteers were needed, etc. She was priceless in this endeavorer!
3.  Plan ahead and plan more than expected.
   • We had several meetings with the key people to plan the details of date, venue, amounts to serve, volunteers needed etc. This was vital to our success and I’m so glad things were planned thoroughly.
4. Have a heart.
   • Just remember you’re planning this for the community. So be praying about your purpose and that the people would be feel loved and welcomed. There may be some inconveniences there may be a few snags but just believe you’re doing this for the good of your neighborhood and with planning and help you will succeed no matter the number of guests.
5. Spread the word.
   • We put an announcement in our local community paper, created an event on Facebook and shared with all the neighbors we knew. We asked them to do the same. Also, we posted on Nextdoor ( a great resource for connecting with your neighbors!)

Overall the event was a success and we’re thrilled with the turnout. We already have it in our minds to host it again and it may become a quarterly event. Time will tell.

Don’t underestimate the importance of community and knowing your neighbors. Studies even prove that your neighbor relationships improve your well-being. Now that’s something positive. It’s worth the effort to know your neighbors.

Community is vital to our well being. Be sure to check out my post on the importance of community.

What makes me most happy? People gathering for bread and good food. But I bet you already knew that.

Til we meet and eat again,

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