Why are 5,000 people planning to have a meal together next Wednesday?

Breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? Dessert? Take your pick and you’ll be joining about 5,000 people in Charlotte who are planning to have a meal together next Wednesday, Oct. 25.

That day will bring the inaugural On The Table CLT event, organized by Community Building Initiative and supported by Foundation for the Carolinas and Knight Foundation, to pull together more than 5,000 people across Mecklenburg County for lunch and a chat about how to make this community more connected, dynamic and opportunity-rich.

Lunches will take place in homes, parks, libraries, businesses and offices and will range from brown-bag to catered.

“Gathering around a table has for centuries been a great way to build community,” said Linda Lockman-Brooks, a marketing professional and Project Director of Charlotte Will, who is hosting a lunch at the Charlotte Observer with publisher Ann Caulkins. (Yep, I’ll be there, too.)

Any topic can be tossed “on the table” that day, from issues of economic mobility, to societal injustice.

Time Out Youth Center will host a lunch event and discuss the state of wellness for young people in Charlotte. The Muslim Women Of the Carolinas organization will gather at the Muslim Education Center for dessert, and all backgrounds are invited. Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont will serve morning muffins and coffee, and conversation facilitated by Jean Veatch, Strategic Project Lead at Duke Energy.

“We really want to share stories,” Lockman-Brooks said. “We want to hear the stories of the people around the table and their experiences in Charlotte, whatever that may be.”

A variety of Super Hosts have committed to host events for 100 or more people throughout the day including Queens University of Charlotte, Levine Museum of the New South and The Junior League of Charlotte. The Charlotte Observer is hosting a public breakfast at United House of Prayer with Harvey Gantt and James Ford, and seats are still available.

If you pull up a seat at a table, walk away with a plan of action, big or small.

“I hope that participants walk away from the Charlotte Will table learning something new about community engagement, having a real to-do about a person to connect with later or an organization to find out more about to either donate to or volunteer with,” Lockman-Brooks said.

Find a table to join, or host your own. And start talking.

Photo: Katie Toussaint

This story was originally published October 17, 2017 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Why are 5,000 people planning to have a meal together next Wednesday?."