A Generous Invitation: GMC hosts community dinner

By Lindsey Rogers

On Wednesday March 24th, Poultney community members were invited to a free diner at the college's dinning hall, courtesy of Green Mountain College students. Professor Vangie Blust's Food, Society and the Environment class hosted the diner in collaboration with Chartwell's Food Service.

The diner, which was referred to by the class as "Bust-A-Grub" Community Diner, was advertised through word of mouth. "I invited the Young at Heart Senior Center and the older adults in the community signed up there. The Poultney Food Shelf was another contact we had," explains Blust.

The generosity of Green Mountain students was an important part of the programs success. As part of the program, students were asked to donate one of their meal passes to a deserving community member. A total of 193 students gave up their meals as part of the program. "Most people were very willing to give up a meal," stated Anna Rebling, a member of the Food, Society and Culture class, "The community was also excited. That night all we heard was 'thank you' and 'we enjoyed it.' It was a generous invitation."

Professor Blust offers another indication of the projects success, "Did the project mitigate the inequality in food distribution and consumption? Defiantly not, but it brought to the fore our personal responsibility to help and support one another, especially those that are in need."

In addition to a possible service learning opportunity for the Food, Society and Culture class, the project also served as a means by which to create a better relationship between the college and the community. "It helped students get a better idea of the people living in the community and created a positive interaction between students and residents in Poultney," Rebling states.

"Because of the GMC student's generosity, the stereotype of college students as disengaged from the community is diminished, if not dismissed," states Blust, "The project also reinforced what has been shown before that we, as an academic community, can pool our resources to extend ourselves to the community and to the region."