These dinners build community

Nothing creates community better than breaking bread with someone you haven’t met before.

So hats off to Elgin businessman Jeff Turner and his legion of volunteers for pulling off another successful community dinner in Elgin — this time for Valentine’s Day.

Turner, who owns and operates the Neighborhood Deli, took up the mantle of sponsoring the city’s annual Thanksgiving dinner for the poor that St. Joseph Catholic Church had put on for 24 years and which another local caterer and the Community Crisis Center hurriedly put together in 2008 after learning St. Joseph no longer had anyone to organize it.

Turner took what had been a once-a-year feel-good event just for the poor and homeless and expanded it into a four-times-a-year community meal for anyone to enjoy — Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving and cookouts in the spring and fall.

The meals, each of which draw many hundreds of people, aren’t just for those who have nothing to eat or no place to go on holidays. It’s a place where people can chow down alongside people in town they’d probably never run into otherwise. The meals truly promote neighborliness.

An added bonus is that the event teaches kids — many of whom volunteer for setup or as servers — how good it can feel to give of themselves.

Larkin High School senior Diana Alcal volunteered Sunday with some of her friends. They enjoyed meeting new people and having the opportunity to serve. “I think it’s fun to be able to help others,” Diana said.

Rich Hirschberg, of Elgin, stopped by for lunch. “I’m thankful that Elgin does something like this,” he said. “It speaks volumes about what we’re all about.”

Community meals may seem like a quaint product of a bygone era, but in the age of unlimited home entertainment and electronic communication and eating in your car, all of which can be very isolating, it’s a great way to get people back together.

Elgin is not alone in this endeavor.

In Kane County it’s pretty easy to find good company and good grub. Geneva United Methodist Church has a free community dinner the third Tuesday of every month; there’s a spaghetti dinner the last Sunday of the month at St. Charles Episcopal Church; Fox Valley Presbyterian in Geneva offers a free meal on the third Friday of each month; and Bethany Lutheran in Batavia has its free meal the last Friday of each month.

There are holiday meals for soldiers away from home and people in need in places like Wheeling and Villa Park and Hawthorn Woods, but Elgin’s idea is one that can be franchised across the suburbs as a real unifying force.

Turner will tell you it’s a lot of hard work but very rewarding. And all you need is a couple dedicated people who can inspire others to volunteer. You’ll be surprised at the support you’ll get.