Since May, Open Table MDI has offered two community suppers each month in Southwest Harbor through our Quietside pilot program, in addition to our Bar Harbor supper. We have watched the supper find its rhythm through a busy summer and the beginnings of a luminous fall. Neighbors have returned, new faces have joined us, and the response has made the need for this gathering clear.
We are now considering what it would take to move into the next phase: offering a Quietside supper every week. To make that possible, while also sustaining our longstanding Bar Harbor supper, we need to grow the small team carrying this work. With the support of donors, Open Table MDI hopes to hire a part-time chef who can work alongside Chef D, sharing the weekly rhythm of planning, preparing, and serving these meals.
Earlier this fall, many of you joined us for NOURISH, an evening that celebrated how far Open Table MDI has come and imagined what might be possible in the years ahead. The generosity in that room was deeply encouraging. It reminded us that Open Table MDI has never belonged to one person or one kitchen. It exists because this community continues to believe that everyone deserves nourishing food, companionship, and a place where they are welcome.
Now, we are asking for your support as we consider this next phase. A gift to our Fall Appeal will help us:
● Continue offering free, welcoming community suppers
● Hire a part-time chef to support Chef D
● Increase the frequency of our Quietside supper to weekly
● Build the steady foundation needed for Open Table MDI to continue growing sustainably
Whether you have shared a meal with us, volunteered in the kitchen, brought a friend, washed dishes, delivered food, or supported us from afar, you are already part of this story. Your contribution, of any size, helps prepare another meal and creates another opportunity for neighbors to gather without cost, expectation, or explanation.
This fall, we invite you to help sustain the community supper that began in Bar Harbor in 2018 and build the groundwork for a weekly supper on the Quietside. Together, we can make a second Open Table MDI community supper a dependable part of life on both sides of the island.
