The Longest Table, a free community dinner meant to foster conversations and friendship, welcomed 850 guests next to Sertoma Park in mid-September. Today, the results of those conversations continue to build momentum with funding awards for seven projects, totalling $10,000, set to launch in 2024.
 
The event featured an uninterrupted table spanning 1,250 feet along 11th Avenue South. Organized by the Community Foundation and the Greater Grand Forks Young Professionals, participants gathered for facilitated discussions focused on healthy habits to achieve better mental and physical health. Following the event, participants were invited to apply for funding of up to $2,000 with the goal of getting ideas off the table and into the community.
 
Of 22 applications, 7 grant recipients were selected to receive funding for their proposed health or wellness related project:

• Christian Buechler – Global Friends Furniture Donations
• Renee Cardarelle and Jennifer Compeau – Traditional Medicinal Gardens
• Jennifer Doak – Grand Forks Good Friends Laundry Love
• Kayla Hochstetler – Survival Packs
• Dr. Hairui Liu – Inclusive Moves Summer Camp
• McKenna Marek – Nourishing Neighborhoods in Grand Forks
• Debra Pflughoeft-Hasset – Celebrating the Light in our Community

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“These projects reflect the importance of positive well-being, particularly as we emerge from the after-effects of a global pandemic. They also represent the many diverse types of wellness, including physical, emotional, environmental, social, financial, and spiritual,” said Becca Baumbach, Executive Director of the Community Foundation. “Each of the 22 ideas brought forward shows that a simple community conversation can spark a world of possibilities. That is what the Longest Table is all about.”

Applications were open to individuals, organizations, and businesses. The selected projects will seek to address challenges, implement new ideas, or inspire healthy habits through community lead efforts.

Through their project, Traditional Medicinal Gardens, grant recipients Renee Cardarelle and Jennifer Compeau hope to provide education regarding native plants used by indigenous people for medicinal and wellness purposes. “Native medicinal gardens have been used for centuries to maintain the health and well-being of communities. These organic herbs can provide fresh, nutrient-rich ingredients, cancer-fighting antioxidants, as well as medicinal remedies. In addition to the direct benefits to health, the gardens bring people outside, where they can work together to create healthy spaces.”

Community members will be invited to plant, maintain, and harvest the gardens as well as learn about the plants and how they can be properly utilized.

Additionally, the organizers hope this project provides a space for indigenous people to experience healing from past traumas and reconnect with their heritage. As an indigenous woman, Jennifer believes in the process of healing by embracing her culture and traditions, which she sees as intricately connected to her sense of identity and wellbeing. Through this project, she hopes to more deeply explore her own indigenous heritage and share that with her children and her community.

Another grant recipient, Kayla Hochstetler, will work with members of the Community Agency Networking Association (CANA) to prepare and disperse Survival Packs to people experiencing homelessness in our community over the next year. The Survival Packs are backpacks containing emergency supplies such as a sleeping bag, hand warmers, blanket, tarp, food items, bottled water, hand sanitizer, and other necessary items to survive outside in North Dakota.

In her application, Kayla said, “our community partners work hard to link individuals with available resources, but the reality is that there are situations in which immediate emergency housing cannot be secured and individuals are sleeping outside in our community. The Survival Packs act as an immediate resource to keep individuals alive, while a sustainable and safe long-term plan is developed.” The grant award will provide 30 Survival Packs for the summer months and 30 Survival Packs for the winter months with appropriate items for each season.

More information about the grant recipients and their projects can be found at longesttablegf.com.

Art Malloy, vice president for Student Affairs, discussed some of the region’s inherent qualities that long-term residents might need to remind themselves of, occasionally.

Living in an inclusive community can do wonders for a person’s mental health, Malloy noted. He has lived in regions of the country where people’s perceptions of him as a Black man have not always been positive. He said he used to consider going shopping late in the evening, when stores are less crowded, due to the looks of fear or distrust he has received. Those looks, that culture, act as weights that can drag down a person’s mental well-being.

But Malloy said he has not experienced that in Grand Forks. He spoke enthusiastically about his interactions with people in the greater community.

“I speak to everyone when I go into stores,” Malloy told his tablemates. “If (people) will look at me – and most of them do – I’ll speak, and we’ll have conversations. It’s a wonderful thing. The environment and the people here are conducive to good mental health.”

With her nearly 3-year-old daughter Olivia in tow, Elisabete Kim headed down the line of tables stretching along the center of an avenue west of Altru Hospital on Thursday, Sept. 14, to take their seats at The Longest Table event at Sertoma Park.

Kim and her family moved here from San Antonio, Texas, on assignment with the military, she said.

“We are new to the area. We were looking for things to do, and this (event) popped up on, I think, Facebook and it looked like fun.”

Kim and her daughter joined the more than 850 people who were gathering for the event as dark storm clouds accommodatingly sidled to the southeast, leaving sunny blue skies and a faint rainbow to grace the occasion.
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Another attendee, Marcia Wahlstrand, said, “there’s nothing like learning together and getting things going – and have something that the community can be proud of.”

The event was meant to bring together residents for a meal and conversation about ways the community can work to promote a healthy lifestyle. Participants could expect to be sitting and dining with people they know or people they’ve just met.

The meal was provided by chefs at Skies 322 restaurant.

Before the event got underway, Wahlstrand said she hoped it would “help the community to understand that people need to have good health and have access to health and wellness (resources).”

She is concerned the community does not have enough low-cost recreation opportunities for families, she said. “I’d like to see a big recreation center that is low-cost and inviting.”

Wahlstrand, a retired teacher, was interested to hear what others think are ways that the community can encourage healthy eating, she said.

At every 8-foot table, captains were tasked with leading discussion by asking guests to respond to a series of questions, not only about challenges to health and wellness, but also the community’s positive attributes.

Among those, Wahlstrand said, is how “welcoming Grand Forks is to diverse cultures – that means the world to me.”
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Those who come here from other countries bring a rich background that benefits local residents, she said.

he results of a survey taken at The Longest Table event will be compiled and maintained by the Community Foundation of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks and Region, which, along with Greater Grand Forks Young Professionals, the event hosts.

Molly Hane, who works for Fenworks, an e-sports and drone-racing company based in the former Herald building downtown, helped with The Longest Table event in 2019 as a UND student. She was impressed by the creative ideas posed by residents then and how some have since been implemented.

At this event, she said, “I am most intrigued by what people think about what Grand Forks offers or would like (the community) to eventually offer. I’d like to see ideas stirring up about what we can do, so in three or four years, we can offer more options.”

Lindsay Bell, who works at the Community Violence Intervention Center office at UND, served as a table captain. A friend had encouraged her to get involved, she said, “and I thought, what a great experience. It sounded like a wonderful way to meet new people and just get out there. I looked forward to doing it, and I’d like to do it next year too.”

The overall goal of the event was to encourage residents to “exchange stories and share ideas about what we can do as a community to foster connections with each other and promote daily healthy habits to achieve better mental and physical health,” organizers said in a news release announcing the event.

The organizers maintain that social connections, discussion, relationships and community have never been more important.

They envision ideas relating to creating walkable communities, building active friendships and promoting healthy food choices to come out of the group discussion.

In planning for this year’s Longest Table, the topic of health gained traction, in part due to the pervasive years-long impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is fading. Also discussed was the significance of the new Altru Hospital, which is emerging on South Columbia Road.

​Information gathered at this year’s Longest Table will be available at the Community Foundation for use by public officials, city councils, local and county governing bodies, and other entities that make decisions that affect the community, according to Becca Baumbach, the Foundation’s executive director.

The community-building event was first held in September 2018 in Grand Forks, with a Main Street-type theme, to gather residents’ viewpoints on what the downtown should look like and how it could be improved, for the benefit of locals and visitors alike. A total of 717 participants took part in that event.

It was inspired by a similar event, “On the Table,” that was held in Chicago, but organizers styled the event here “a little differently,” Baumbach said.
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The last Longest Table event in Grand Forks was held in September 2019, drawing 868 participants, she said. Discussion centered on the kinds of development and amenities people would like to see become available on the University Avenue corridor between UND and downtown.

The Longest Table event was held along University Avenue on Wednesday, Sept. 4, bringing local residents together for a hearty meal catered by Hugo’s, and good conversation to boot.

The event kicked off with residents sitting down to dinner at 5:45 p.m. at the uninterrupted table -- actually 125 tables -- spanning a length of up to 1,250 feet.

"I am so excited; we are just building on the momentum of last year," said Kathryn Kester, event co-organizer and executive director of the Greater Grand Forks Young Professionals. "Last year was a huge success with 717 (people) in attendance, and that's why we felt comfortable raising our goal to 1,000 people this year."

The communal supper was first held last year in Grand Forks, after Gov. Doug Burgum visited in December 2018 to promote his Main Street Initiative to improve North Dakota cities and help attract a 21st century workforce.

Attendance is set to be greater than last year, which had a goal of 750 people. As of the morning of Sept. 4, more than 901 people had registered for the dinner, easily surpassing last year’s number.

“We were very surprised we got so close to our goal last year and knew, with the community’s enthusiasm, we could break that 717 record,” said Becca Baumbach, executive director of the Community Foundation of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks and Region. “So we set our goal for 1,000 people.”

The dinner event has guests seated somewhat randomly with a variety of ages represented at each table. Tables have a question card for a table captain to help facilitate the conversations, which are about community issues and opportunities. This year’s goal is to gather information about the University Avenue Corridor, which runs from Columbia Road to North Third Street.

“It’s a great opportunity, having residents sitting in that corridor and thinking about if we were to re-imagine this and do something different, what that might be, what are the issues currently, what are the strengths,” said Baumbach. “What does the community want to happen with that space?”
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The event is paired with a survey, with the data going to JLG Architects to contribute to a master planning study to be used in decision making, community building and re-imagining public spaces in Grand Forks. The planning study is funded at the request of the Community Foundation and the Knight Foundation, and the data will be shared with the public.

"We're just coming to see some changes in the community," said Trevor Weiland, student senator for Education and Human Development at UND. He said he wanted to see more more UND student involvement in the community -- though he noted it goes both ways -- and he would like to hear from the community about how UND should evolve.

The Longest Table event also marks the beginning of the city-funded micro grants. Grand Forks city has provided $24,000 in funding to be awarded in grants up to the amount of $3,000, for people to get their ideas off the ground. The grants were inspired by Burgum’s Main Street Challenge, after his visit in 2018, and are facilitated by the Community Foundation.

​“He challenged the community to stop asking what youth and young professionals want in the community and, instead, to empower them to build it themselves,” said Becca Cruger, of the Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corp. “That’s what drove the spirit of the first event, and that’s what still drives us today. We want to empower average, everyday citizens to build the community they want to live in.”

The grants may be applied for through Sept. 30. Grants may be applied for online at www.gofoundation.org/grants.

he free food event was brought to Grand Forks by Becca Cruger, of the Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corp., and Becca Baumbach, of the Community Foundation, after securing funding from the Knight Foundation. This year, the event was organized by Baumbach and Kathryn Kester, executive director of the Greater Grand Forks Young Professionals.

"I came last year, and I came again for the conversation," said Alicia Fadley, a table captain who noted that the event succeeds because people take ownership of their community and offer creative ways to improve it.
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This year's event is funded by local entities, including two underwriters, the city of Grand Forks and Hugo’s.

​The Main Street Grand Forks: Longest Table, a community dinner meant to foster conversations and friendship brought over 700 guests to downtown Grand Forks in early September. Today, the results of those conversations continue to build momentum with funding awards for ten projects set to launch in 2019.
 
The event featured an uninterrupted table spanning 750 feet along North 3rd Street. Organized by the Community Foundation and the Greater Grand Forks Young Professionals, participants gathered for facilitated discussions. Following the event, residents of Grand Forks were invited to apply for seed funding of up to $3,000 with the goal of getting ideas off the table and into the community.
 
Ten grant recipients were selected to receive funding. Among those projects residents will soon see the creation of an outdoor jam lot to build a local music scene; murals designed by local artists to beautify downtown Grand Forks; a specialized nutrition education program to enhance the Town Square farmer’s market; a program designed to provide free tickets to theater performances for homebound seniors; enhancements to infrastructure resulting in increased accessibility for individuals who have disabilities; and a series of performances created by an African Arts group designed to share cultural experiences.
 
“We are incredibly excited to see these projects unfold in 2019,” said Becca Cruger, president of Greater Grand Forks Young Professionals. “From the beginning, this collaboration has been about inviting people to envision their community in new ways and to have a hand in building it.”
 
Becca Bahnmiller, Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks and Region echoes Cruger’s sentiment. “The amazing ideas brought forward prove that a simple community conversation can spark a world of possibilities.”
 
The Longest Table is part of the Main Street GF initiative, a program that works to address Governor Burgum Main Street Challenge of creating healthy, vibrant communities as well as smart, efficient infrastructure and a 21st century workforce.
 
Funding for the Longest Table was provided by the Knight Foundation Donor-Advised fund at the Community Foundation. Funding for the seed grants was provided by the City of Grand Forks. More information can be found at mainstreetgf.com.