Invite a few friends to your home for a potluck. Try to use only locally grown ingredients when possible. Try new recipes and new flavours to explore local biodiversity. Then follow your meal with a movie!

We have a large collection of movies relating to food that we can recommend. You can also consult our guide on how to hold a movie night.

If you’re feeling ambitious, and have access to a church or community centre, you can take things a step further and look into using their cooking and event facilities for a bigger event. Ask to see if they’ll give you a reduced rate or let you use it for free.

Need an appetizer to start things off? Why not play Name that Seed, or explore what people have posted on our Get Growing pages? Ask for donations at the door for your local food bank or for a community gardening network.

Checklist for a potluck event at a community centre or church:

• Donation Box: a shoebox or a hat will do.
• Float: Money to make change, in case someone can only afford to donate a portion of their $20 bill.
• Tables and chairs: to set up potluck dinners, display information, hold donation boxes, and to sit down and eat at.
• Flyers and Posters: to promote your event, if you want a larger audience.
• Electronic promotional materials: use Facebook, email, listservs, Twitter, and other social media to promote your event.
• Information on Food Bank or Community Garden: to explain why people should donate.
• Access to a kitchen: that includes a fridge, stove, plates, cutlery, and water.
• Task Checklist: to make sure you did everything you needed to do (You might want to print this page).

Timeline

5 weeks before the event:

• Contact the organization you wish to support to find out what kind of help they need, and what kind of support they can give you.
• Decide on a day and location for your action/event.
• Contact the community centre, church, etc. if you are planning on holding an event at an outside venue to secure the date and location and confirm the cost (if any).
• Begin soliciting services you may need for your event or action, such as access to a vehicle, free printing of materials, free boxes to move food, etc.
• Write your promotional material/information sheets/ posters and flyers so it will be ready to send out the next week.
• Find out when deadlines for submissions to local newspapers are so you will be sure that your event gets included in time.

4 weeks before the event:

• Finalize your promotional material and get it printed.
• Post invitations to your event on your Facebook and Twitter pages, on listservs, through email, e-vite, on electronic community billboards, and with the local media.
• Keep in contact with your partner organizations or venue to make sure that you are ready for your event.
• Call your local video store and secure the film you will be viewing for the date you want.
• Make sure you have access to a TV and DVD player the night you need them.

3 weeks before the event:

• Make direct contact with local media to let them know about your event (if its open to the public).
• Encourage friends and family members who have already expressed an interest in getting more people on board to participate.
• Post your printed posters and flyers around the neighbourhood to promote your event, coffee shops and churches are great places to post these events.
• Continue to touch base with your partners and venue to ensure that everything is running smoothly.

2 weeks before the event:

• Get your participants excited about the event they are participating in.
• Ask participants if they can help you secure any items or services you may still be missing for your event.
• Call all your partners and venue and check in about your plans for the next week.
• Confirm with attendees what items they will be making so you don’t overlap.

Week of the event/action:

• Make sure you have your donation boxes and float money ready.
• Confirm with all attendees their participation in the event and what is expected of them.
• Blog, Tweet, and Post your event.
• Arrive early to set up the room. Post signs to give people directions on how to get to the room. Set-up sign-in sheets and name tags (optional).

Week after the event/action:

• Contact the organization you were supporting and ask for feedback.
• Thank all participants and ask them for their stories (we want to hear about it too).
• Thank all sponsors and ask them what they thought of the action/event.
• Write a sthank you note summarizing the successes of the event and distribute to those who attended .
• Share your thoughts about the event and moving forward on your blog, facebook, or twitter account.