Why host a Welcome Dinner in Minnesota?
With our current political climate in the U.S., I’ve been looking for more ways to be involved. Welcoming with a Welcome Dinner seems like a great way to start! I’ve travelled quite a bit and I know what it’s like to have someone host you for a home cooked meal. It makes almost all situations seem a little better. I’d like to give that feeling to someone else.
We received this message from Leah in Minneapolis, when registering to host a Welcome Dinner in her community. Messages like this brighten up our days since we launched “Minnesota Welcomes“, a campaign that is bringing Minnesotans together behind one goal: Cultivating inclusive and diverse communities that everyone can feel part of by starting a number of lasting community initiatives.
The Welcome Dinner is one of the most popular of these initiatives. The concept is simple; host a dinner that brings people from different backgrounds together, it might be in your home or in a public place. Nothing elaborate, just a meal that you’d normally eat. Sit down, chat, get to know about each other’s cultures, share some food, have a drink, and that’s about it!
Welcome Dinners provide a very easy and enjoyable way to work towards a more inclusive, more understanding community.
The messages that are flowing through our inbox right now, from people telling us why they’re starting Welcome Dinners are too heart-warming not to share with you. There is an overwhelming number of people out there who want to put their time and cooking skills towards creating loving and understanding communities. All the comments below are anonymous.
I’m a mama to a five year old, and with the changing political climate I’ve realized that there’s a lot I don’t know about other cultures. I’m a white woman, and while I realize that I have struggles, they are nowhere in comparison to people from other cultures. I want to help make the world a better place, even if it’s just one person at a time. I don’t have amazing amounts of social skills or time, but I want to help people.
The USA I grew up in welcomes and loves its immigrants. I’m feeling disgusted by the anti-immigrant sentiment being shown and I just want to prove that there are still those of us out there that welcome and appreciate everyone and what they can bring to our communities.
It’s a brilliant idea to connect with our community. I think it’s needed to reach out not only to new immigrants to welcome them and provide for support, but also to reach out to people across party lines in this country to start bridging the divide morally and ideologically.
I am a Latina immigrant that has lived in the USA for over 20 years. My husband is from Pakistan. We have a bilingual multicultural home, and we are proud of it. I just want to welcome people to our community. I want to share my story and hear the story of others. I want to exchange knowledge and resources, and build a stronger support system for all immigrants and refugees.
Have a heart for the refugee – I want to reach out in welcome, love and kindness and see them cared for and appreciated.
I imagine one of the most difficult things about coming to a new country/community is not knowing who is friendly or welcoming or even where you could turn to in order to get assistance with finding your way around a new place. I would love to be able to meet new people from new places to share my life with them and learn about their lives and help them to establish a feeling of belonging.
Imagine if everyone in your community hosted a Welcome Dinner? Imagine the difference it would make in creating a society where everyone feels included, where everyone is respected? Where everyone can work to create a more enjoyable, comfortable and interesting society for ourselves and for our future.
No matter what the political climate might suggest, as long as there are people like you, people like all of those who sent us these messages and registered to host a Welcome Dinner, we can ensure that people feel at home in Minnesota, no matter where they are from.
