There are a lot of ways to get active this coming weekend to make your community a better place. Here are two events you ought to know about.

If you’re concerned about the environment, head to the Chapel Hill Public Library on Saturday, April 29, from 10 am to noon for a program on environmental advocacy, hosted by the League of Women Voters of Orange, Durham, and Chatham Counties. State Senator Mike Woodard (D-Durham) will be there to discuss current bills in the General Assembly and how you can get involved. (Sen. Woodard is on the Senate’s Agricultural, Environment, and Natural Resources Committee. April 29 is beyond the General Assembly’s “crossover date,” an unofficial deadline for moving bills forward, so we’ll have a better sense of which bills stand a chance of passing – and thus where to direct our advocacy.)

Eva Rogers chairs the LWV’s environmental issues team. She discussed the event with Aaron Keck on WCHL.

 

To get more info on Saturday’s free event, visit LWVODC.org.

Then on Sunday, April 30, you’re invited to McDougle Schools Cafeteria in Carrboro for the 20th annual Community Dinner. The brainchild of Nerys Levy and Mildred “Mama Dip” Council, the Community Dinner is a simple idea: once a year, everyone in our community comes together around a table to share a meal. It’s won national awards for community development, and thousands of people have taken part through the years. Meeting as strangers, Levy says, they leave as friends. (And sometimes even romantic couples: Levy says she knows of at least a few marriages that started with two people meeting at the Community Dinner.)

Nerys Levy discussed the Community Dinner with Aaron Keck on WCHL.

 

The Community Dinner begins at 1 pm on Sunday, April 30, with live music, dancing, and food from Mama Dip’s. Tickets are $8 for adults and $3 for kids, and you can also donate to pay for those who might otherwise not be able to afford it. (Levy says no one gets turned away for lack of funds.)

Get more info and buy tickets online at CommunityDinner.org.