The Garden Table in Old Town

Once a year, we transform a street in Old Town into a beautiful gathering place, setting a long table filled with flowers, candles, thoughtfully prepared food, and 200 seats for people from every walk of life. We intentionally extend invitations to those experiencing homelessness, addiction, poverty, loneliness, or exclusion, welcoming them not as recipients of charity but as honored guests, neighbors, and friends. Through shared food, laughter, conversation, and genuine hospitality, we create a space where every person is seen, valued, and celebrated.

This gathering is also an intentional act of resistance against the darkness, division, and despair that can take root in our cities. By setting a table of beauty and abundance in a place often marked by suffering, we declare that darkness does not have the final word. Rather than turning away from the pain of our neighborhood, we choose to enter into it with love, generosity, and hope. The Garden Table offers a glimpse of the kingdom of God—a place where dignity is restored, barriers are broken down, and beauty belongs to everyone.

In 2027 we will launch an initiative called 100 Tables which answers the question: “What happens in between these annual events?” The hope is to establish 100 places across our city each month where smaller tables will be hosted, offering welcome, beauty, relationship and hospitality in each of Portland’s 97 neighborhoods. As we expand the tables across Portland, leaders in other cities want to create similar tables in their neighborhoods. We hope to create a valuable training curriculum and helpful resources so that anyone can host a table, bringing light to the dark and lonely places.

The Garden Table is more than a shared meal. It is an invitation to belong, an expression of reconciliation, and a tangible declaration that even in the most broken places, hope can take root.

Any finances raised will go towards

1. Helping individuals who could not otherwise afford a ticket attend the 2027 Garden Table. This year we provided over 100 free tickets to community members who are houseless, going through recovery programs, or experiencing poverty. For many of them this was the first time they had ever been invited to sit at a beautiful table and be served a four-course meal with strangers who soon became friends. Including all event expenditures, the average cost per person is about $85.

2. Helping the team create resources and training materials to launch the 100 Tables initiative and to catalyze tables in other cities around the world.

Target Amount: $3-5,000 (£4,000)