Community
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Hijinks and Insights from the GTCF Community Calendar
Last month, local organizations shared over 35 events on our GTCF Community Calendar. We recognize that it takes a lot of work to put on events like these, so we asked organizations to let us know how their events went, and what they learned along the way.
Below are responses written by event organizers:
Tacoma Refugee Choir Community Sing-A-Long
Event Date
March, 10 2018
Location
Urban Grace Church, Tacoma
Purpose
“The goal of all Tacoma Refugee Choir Sing-A-Long events is to create a safe, fun, and welcoming space for people to meet and work toward building a more welcoming community through song. The structure is rooted in the idea that making music collaboratively has a unique power to unite people and bring our commonalities to the forefront.”
How Did it Go?
The event turned out being a fun, high-energy community celebration. It built on the momentum of the previous November Sing-Along and featured many of the same local artists. Selections ranged from old favorites to catchy new work by local musicians, and the audience sang and danced along to every song!
Highlights
“One thing I’ve noticed about the atmosphere of the Sing-Alongs is that the audience members start out as strangers, but even if they don’t officially meet, they start to become comfortable and cheerful in each other’s company.” – Sarah Olive-McStay
What Did You Learn About Putting On Community Events?
With regard to planning community events, we’ve definitely learned to engage with as many local people as we can in the process. Everyone has something valuable to contribute, and finding those skills and turning them toward a common goal is a unifying and exciting process.
What’s Next?
Tacoma Refugee Choir’s next event “Refugee Stories,” will be held on May 12 at Stewart Middle School in Tacoma. A multimedia concert focused on accounts of hope amidst adversity, this event will celebrate the invaluable contributions refugees make to the Tacoma community, and include songs and poetry written by local refugee community members as well as other works that reflect on the concert’s themes. More information will be available on the GTCF Community Calendar and Tacoma Refugee Choir’s website soon.
Lakewold Gardens – Game Night at the Garden
Event Date
Each Wednesday in March, 2018
Location
Lakewold Gardens, Lakewood
Purpose
The goal of Game Night at the Gardens was to create a fun opportunity for people to come together, make new friends, and see what a beautiful place Lakewold Gardens is.
How Did it Go?
This was the first time doing Game Night, so it was very much a trial, but it turned out to be a success! The best part was that most of the attendees were new to the garden and got to discover Lakewold Gardens for the first time. Several folks came back for multiple evenings and made some new friends, as well. We were even able to help a budding game designer with ideas for her very first board game.
Highlights
The Jenga game was definitely one of the top moments. It was quite a nail-biter. Everyone was holding their breath for it to fall but it stood strong for a very long time, to the point were there were no pieces to take out that wouldn’t make it collapse. And when it did, it finally did, it fell with a bang!
What Did You Learn About Putting On Community Events?
Figuring out the best date and time is important. With these events being on Wednesday evenings, it was hard for people who work or have young kids to make it out, so that is something to keep in mind for the future.
What’s Next?
We have received feedback from many people that they would be interested in more game nights, so we are looking at our calendar to find a good standing date so we can make it a monthly event. In the mean time though, we have established a permanent shelf in our sunroom that has a small selection of games, cards and puzzles for people to enjoy any time.
Want to share your events on our calendar? We invite local nonprofits, organizations, and individuals to help us keep the Community Calendar up to date by posting their own events to the calendar.
To begin posting you’ll need to create an account
Once you’ve created an account, you will be able log in and post your events to the Community Calendar at any time. Submissions will be reviewed by GTCF staff and shared on the calendar once they are approved. We usually get them up within 24 hours.
If you have any questions, or need help getting your account set up please feel free to call us at (253) 383-5622 or email Joe Hunich