Mile Long Table Gives Denver Community Perfect Way to Connect

Elder Tausaga places a salad and a bean dish on the Mile Long Table

By Corey Christiansen, Denver Metro Area News Media Specialist

They arrived early on a hot and clear July morning a bit daunted by the task in front of them. Thirty young missionaries from the Denver Colorado North Mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints accepted a task through JustServe to help prepare the longest table any of them had ever seen.

Stretching an incredible 5,280 feet long, the appropriately-named Mile Long Table crisscrossed the Auraria Campus in the heart of downtown Denver. This would become the gathering place for 5,280 people to sit down together for lunch with the goal of combatting loneliness in the community.

For the missionaries, the to-do list started with arranging the place settings – complete with disposable utensils made of wood. Then, came all the food. Serendipity Catering from nearby Lakewood, Colo. prepared an absolute mountain of food that would be served family style. One-by-one, the missionaries placed large bowls of salad, heaping plates of chicken and more bowls of sauces and cheese on the never-ending table sections.

After two hours in the blazing sun, each missionary surveyed their pristinely-prepared tables and felt good about what they had done. Sister Jocymaria Songo’imoli is from Tonga and welcomed the opportunity to show her love for Colorado through her service. “Stepping in to help feed these people is giving us that feeling that people need our help and our service is important,” she said.

“I was so excited to do service,” said Elder Vinesio Tausaga from Samoa. “The two great commandments are to love God and to love your neighbor. So that’s the reason I’m always excited to do service.”

Longer Tables

The Mile Long Table was billed as “America’s longest table” and came from an organization called Longer Tables. Its mission is to create a space “where all people – no matter their story, background or identity – are connected, seen and feel like they belong.”

People throughout Denver and its surrounding communities could purchase tickets for a seat at the Mile Long Table. Tickets went for as low as $5.28, but participants could choose to pay more to help cover the costs of the event. The seats were unassigned and participants were encouraged to sit with people they didn’t know in an effort to build new connections.

Like Family

The Denver North Stake (a stake is a group of local Church congregations) of The Church of Jesus Christ signed up as a co-host for the Mile Long Table. This meant the stake could invite several of its community partners to share a small portion of the super-sized table.

Sharon Brost (left) enjoys talking with people at her table

Stake leaders reached out to their contacts at the City of Northglenn and the City of Thornton who were thrilled to take a seat at the table. “It really warmed my heart to know that the relationships we’ve been working on are real,” said Sharon Brost, Denver North Stake JustServe Specialist. “You get to know them and they become like family so it warmed my heart. They’re coming to the table and we’re breaking bread together. It doesn’t matter what your religion is, it doesn’t matter what your beliefs are. It’s just about sitting down and being kind to one another.”

Thornton Volunteer Coordinator Belia Dameron is someone whom Brost considers family. They’ve worked together on multiple volunteer projects including the 9/11 Day of Service and a current school supply drive. The organization Brost volunteers with, JustServe, is an online service The Church of Jesus Christ provides to connect individuals with service opportunities in their communities.

Sharon Brost (left), Gwenn Woodhouse and Lisa Whitaker from the Denver North Stake Communication Council with Belia Dameron (front center) from the City of Thornton

Dameron said JustServe has become an integral part of her city’s efforts to promote volunteerism. “JustServe has the right idea of how to combine not just resources, but also combine talents and ideas to create meaningful community projects,” she said. “I hope we do a lot more projects together.”

Serving God

After completing their morning set-up task, the missionaries got to take seats at the table for lunch. “My favorite part was talking to everyone!” said Sister Songo’imoli who loved to use her outgoing personality to bring smiles to those around her. She has been in Colorado for almost a year and feels right at home now in the Centennial State.

Sister Songo’imoli (right) and Sister Na’a place food on the Mile Long Table

Her companion, Sister ‘Ilaisaane Na’a who is also from Tonga, has only been in Colorado for three months. Feeling comfortable talking with strangers is still a skill she’s working to master, but she said this event gave her some valuable practice. “It was a good experience for me to step out, meeting with some new people, to step up my confidence in talking to people,” she said. “It’s really important to talk with everyone and to get to know them.”

Elder Clayton Hansen from Altamont, Utah really enjoyed getting to play a role in helping more people in the Denver community connect. “Whenever a service opportunity comes up, I just see it as an opportunity to serve God because you serve God by serving others, right?” he said. “Sometimes I’m not always the best talker. And so serving others seems to be a way for me to compensate and to help out as best as I can.”

Perhaps Sister Songo’imoli stated the feeling of the day best. “When we serve others, they are happy, but we are happier,” she said.

(L to R) Sister Na’a, Sister Songo’imoli, Elder Hansen, Elder Tausaga