Greenfield Community College to Host Community Meal and Cultural Celebration

GREENFIELD — On Wednesday, Nov. 20 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Cohn Family Dining Commons at Greenfield Community College (GCC), the Interfaith Council of Franklin County and GCC are collaborating to create Come for Supper, a community meal celebrating the cultures, traditions, and ethnicities of the region.

This family-friendly event will include games for children, music, dance, information tables, and food representing Guatemalan, Egyptian, Thai, Puerto Rican, Korean, Mexican, Jewish, Senegalese, Tibetan, and indigenous peoples’ cultures. There will also be an opportunity for people from different communities and ethnicities to offer blessings or share traditions.

The idea for the collaboration emerged from a desire to highlight and celebrate the many cultures and ethnicities embedded in Franklin County and the surrounding areas. Come for Supper is designed to be a community meal that encourages interaction and helps people to get to know the neighbors that help make Franklin County so dynamic.

“To a certain degree, you can measure quality of life by the diversity of cultures represented in a city or town’s culinary options. We are incredibly lucky in this region to have a wealth of locally grown food that feeds into a rich range of restaurants and caterers,” said Dean Leo Hwang. “People in Franklin County are hungry and eager to try new foods and meet new people, but sometimes in a rural region, it is hard to have the space to make that happen. We hope that Come for Supper will be one way to bring people together to strengthen our bonds of community.”

Added the Rev. Kate Stevens, “as a member of the Interfaith Council of Franklin County, it is an honor to work in partnership with GCC to celebrate the culinary and cultural diversity of this community. I look forward to a stimulating and delicious evening.”

The event is free and open to the public. RSVP at gcc.mass.edu/supper.