Nothing bonds Red Stick residents like sharing a meal. It’s part of the fabric of our culture. We meet new people, catch up with old friends, celebrate our achievements and mourn our losses, all while sitting around the dinner table. We could probably solve the world’s problems with empty plates and full stomachs. In fact, the Atlas Foundation is counting on it.
The local organization is dedicated to promoting interfaith and intercultural dialogue across the city—doing that largely by gathering community members for dinner. By hosting a meal with people of different faiths, the Atlas Foundation believes it can “create a platform for people to come together and talk about issues without fighting,” says Fevzi Sarac, a member of the foundation’s board of directors.
The foundation organizes regular cooking classes, coffee nights, traditional multi-faith dinners, international festivals and spiritual reading clubs and get-togethers for people of all religious backgrounds.
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We sat down with some of the organizers to learn all about the foundation’s history and impact. Read on for the full feature, which appeared in the October 2019 issue of 225.