Photo by comedy_nose
From a very young age, we’re told not to talk to strangers. But what if doing so offered a unique way to give back to the community?
One evening, while flicking through television channels with eyes glazed and brain only partially functioning, my ears perked up when I came across an interview with Franke James.
Franke, an artist, photographer and writer whose mission is to do something green and document it, runs a blog out of Toronto using visual essays to portray her art. In the interview, she talks about how she received a random email one day from a stranger with a bold idea.
The premise
The original email is highlighted in her account of the event, a gorgeous visual essay complete with colorful graphics and photographs of the participants. The stranger turned out to be a man named Mark Shouldice who had stumbled upon her blog and was impressed with her work. He proposed to Franke that if she prepared a full meal for him and a guest, he would donate $200 to a charity of her choice.
The table is set
Naturally, Franke was skeptical. But just two hours after replying to Mark’s email, a donation had been made to the Yonge Street Mission’s Christmas dinner and a vegetarian dinner with a stranger had been arranged.
Of course, it also helped to Google his name and to pick up small pieces of information.
Photo by AMagill
The outcome
In an interview, Franke says things were not the least bit awkward between her, Mark and his guest, Hilary. Throughout the course of the evening, Franke learned about Mark’s teaching career, his art school project, and his documentary film nights, as well as Hilary’s career as a nurse and her time working in Rwanda on an AIDS/HIV project.
The whole idea got me thinking. If this project could work in such a major city like Toronto, how well would it work in other smaller cities? How amazing would it be to meet somebody new on a whim, whether you’re the donor or the host? This might be one case where talking to strangers is a fantastic idea.
As Franke says on her blog, she had started out having dinner with two strangers, but by the end of the evening, she was dining with two friends. As a result, 77 homeless people were fed from Mark’s generous donation.
COMMUNITY CONNECTION
If you could dine with any stranger, who would it be? Why?
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8 Comments... join the discussion!
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We’ve done this is the past and it is indeed very cool. If we go out and someone is eating alone we will invite them to join us. Most often we get a polite rejection, but it’s those times that people say yes that are special.
As a middle-aged male this obviously works better when I’m with my wife and boys than when I happen to be alone.
I challenge everyone reading this to do it at least once this year. I think it could make a big difference in someone’s life.
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Some of best travel experiences have been dining with complete strangers.
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Wow, that’s a really cool story!
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We often meet and eat with strangers, usually through Couchsurfing but also people we meet along the way. The last time was right after we moved to our new place in Salta. It started with just a few people, but by the end of the night we had 30 people sitting around the table, hanging out. The best part was when someone brought out a guitar and we spent the night singing everything from Eric Clapton to John Lee Hooker to Soda Stereo and old Argentinian folk songs.
I don’t think, though, this is the kind of thing I would have done before we started traveling.
Along the way, though, we’ve been invited to eat, sleep, ride with people we don’t know and have been overwhelmed by their generosity. We want to give back.The
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This is such a great story! I had something similar-ish happen to me two years ago, and I’ve been inspired by your story to write about it. Matador blog, here I come! Thanks for sharing!
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probably not … i’m skeptical and it’s hard to take anyone serious or trust everyone. better be safe than sorry.
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Nice story!
I travelled alone many times and had sometimes dinner with strangers approaching me. Most times these were interesting people with whom it was nice to share experiences and views even though for a very short time.
I don’t think one should never let be approached by any stranger. Better try to follow our feelings and instinct.↵
