NY-17 residents gather for dinner in Nanuet, above, and Ossining, below
On February 7th and 7 PM Plus One, a new PAC whose focus is to bring neighbors together and in doing so strengthen our communities and democracy gathered for 57 dinners.
Over 40 individuals hosted dinners across the 57 towns and villages of NY17 (Putnam, Rockland, and parts of Westchester and Dutchess counties). 500 neighbors joined for the dinners.
In reading the survey responses of some of the 57 Dinners hosts it was clear that people used the event to spark connections that not only fostered closer relationships but also engendered in dinner attendees the desire to be more active in support of their neighbor and with respect to issues that concern them.
Host Victoria Wu Zazyczny of Nanuet is a great example. She noted that among her 16 dinner guests, “some came as strangers to each other, acquaintances, or neighbors who never socialized with each other. We left as one community,” and then went on to describe how her action-oriented dinner group had shared information about an emergency food provider organization in her community, Porch Nanuet, as well as information about the 5 Calls app that helps voters contact their congressional representatives.
Members of host Stephanie Perrell’s group of 21 dinner guests in Bedford have already agreed to organize a baking day as their next activity-oriented get together and were extending invitations to not just other dinner guests but to people who had missed attending. This, too, was a group that “shared laughs and felt a sense of belonging around new people.” Stephanie particularly valued the “spontaneous conversations” happening among her guests and suggested that Plus One more actively promote the idea that strong community bonds form the foundation of healthy democracies.
The most commonly requested follow-ups from our hosts were for more opportunities for community activity-based events, ranging from efforts that would support vulnerable people in their own communities to political activities like voter registration drives, canvassing and political candidate information events. This is exactly what we hoped for from this exercise of bringing people together — new connections and incremental energy to support their communities in the ways they see best.
