Jason Stockfish | [email protected]
Hundreds of people attended the community dinner at the Jasper Activity Centre on Jan. 8 in continuation of a tradition that began out of necessity 20 years ago.
Hosted by the municipality鈥檚 department of Community Development and co-ordinated through the Outreach office, the dinners are held every Sunday, January through March, in the multipurpose hall at the Activity Centre.
The impetus of the community dinner came in 2003 during an overly dry winter when Marmot Basin wanted to help ease the strain on struggling ski hill staff by providing them with a free meal.
鈥淚t was a really tight year that year,鈥� said Christopher Read, director of Community Development.
鈥�(But) through crisis comes opportunity (and) the benefits and the joys of having community dinner were revealed.鈥�
Over the past two decades, the community dinners have evolved, and facilitating them is a smoother process thanks to the help of devoted volunteers and community partners, Read said, noting that the successful initiative has been recognized regionally and provincially.
Funding for the first dinner of the year is provided by town council to get the ball rolling and then the donations received from each dinner then fund the following week鈥檚 meal.
鈥淔or 20 years it has never been a problem,鈥� Read said. 鈥淭he system is sustaining.鈥�
Just as they have since the first dinner back in the winter of 2003, Marmot Basin drives their staff from the ski hill to the dinner, and a partnership with the Evergreens Foundation and Alpine Summit Seniors Lodge allows for the facility鈥檚 bus, the Alpine Traveller, to do a shuttle run around town to transport those with mobility issues to the community dinner.
Everyone working at the dinner is a volunteer, from those cooking and serving the food to those clearing the tables, washing the dishes and working the door collecting donations.
For the first meal of 2023, Coco鈥檚 Cafe staff designed the menu and prepared the food, which was a scrumptious array of Indian cuisine.
Before the dinners wrap up at the end of March, council and the municipal leadership team will be hosting a meal where guest chefs will design the menu and co-ordinate the meal.
Likening the intertwined efforts of putting together the dinners to the weaving of the fabric of a community, Read spoke of the community-building efforts and the support offered by so many residents and businesses.
鈥�(There) is a good cross section of the community here. (You鈥檒l) find professionals, frontline service staff, Marmot staff, every aspect of our community gets covered, and that鈥檚 one of the magical parts of it,鈥� Read said.
鈥淚鈥檓 really proud of it as a continuing saga and legacy of a great initiative that has flourished.鈥�
