Food & Faith Gathering

Saturday, May 19th

Join a coalition of faith-based and community groups, for the High Country's FIRST Food & Faith Gathering on May 19th at Boone United Methodist Church.

Faith leaders in the High Country have collaborated with Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture to host this event, featuring panel speakers, facilitated discussion, and breakout sessions. The Food and Faith Gathering aims to strengthen the network of faith communities growing, redistributing, and sharing food as a part of their faith witness, as well as introduce people who are new to this work to ways they can become involved.

Goals of the Gathering Are to Offer a Space for

Folks who are already doing Food & Faith work to connect and see where the needs are within our community. We believe that there are things happening here, but we need to figure out what are the next steps. We need to create synergy and build a stronger network.
Folks who are new to or interested in Food & Faith work to learn more about how they can become involved. This means engaging fellow community members, offering introductions, and providing connection points.

Cost, Location & Schedule

Cost

To support future connections within our Food & Faith communities, we ask that participants contribute $5. The costs for this gathering have generously been paid for by the sponsors below.

Schedule

9:00-9:30 AM – Welcome by Laura Byrch (Boone UMC)
9:30-10:30 AM - Speaker Panel moderated by Christina Bailey (Village Vision) and featuring Matt Gundlach (Beatitude Gardens, Blackburn Community Outreach), Karen Richardson Dunn (Partners in Health and Wellness, NC Council of Churches) and Tommy Brown (F.A.R.M. Cafe)
10:30-12:00 PM - World Cafe Roundtable - All are invited to participate
12:00-1:00 PM - Lunch provided by F.A.R.M. Cafe. During lunch, participants are invited to share what they know about our community on the Asset Map and add their skills to our community bank, also known as "Notes on the Wall"
1:00-2:15 PM - Focused Tracks

Introduction to Food & Faith Work in North Carolina

This track will be geared towards folks that are new to Food & Faith work. Michelle Osborne of Rural Advancement Foundation International will facilitate this track, sharing how communities across North Carolina have used Food and Faith to build stronger, more vibrant futures.

Crowdsourcing Food & Faith Work in the High Country

This group will work to distill the work from the World Cafe section, the Asset Map, and Notes on the Wall. It will be organized by participants that join this group, answering: What ways are we already working together? What ways can we better work together? What are some next steps?
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2:15-2:45 PM - Closing - Participants from Crowdsourcing Food & Faith Work in the High Country will share ways that we can move forward.

Participants may also register by calling Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture at 828-386-1537.

Boone United Methodist Church

471 New Market Boulevard
Boone, North Carolina 28607