SAGE Table is back for it’s second year!
Usually, when you get involved with a charity, the main focus is fund-raising. With SAGE’s second year of the inter-generational event, SAGE Table, it’s actually about “friend-raising”.
That’s right, it’s a campaign about getting people together and not about the money. SAGE Table takes place on November 8th all over the USA and it’s about getting people to share a meal, and talk about the issues we face as we get older, especially loneliness.
The idea is that by talking, the stigma is taken away. Let’s face it, we will all be old one day. By getting LGBT people and Allies across the generations, in one of the most human of events, sharing a meal together, SAGE Table is designed to build and maintain those intergenerational bridges.
Last year there were over 300 events all over the country. This year the hope is to blow that out of the water.
I have been invited to be part of the National Host Committee, and that means my job is to get YOU to host a table.
All you have to do (once you have signed up at www.sageusa.org/join-sage-table) is invite 6-10 people to share a meal, a glass of wine, or just a cup of coffee and a cookie, and talk!
If you are not sure what to talk about… well, we have that covered too. The event guide you receive gives you topics to help the event go swimmingly and help everyone to bond.
That’s it! There’s no pre-requisite to raise any money or charge people, all you have to do is get together. If you feel like making a lot of food is too much, why not make it a potluck and share the work?
Oh, and if the date is not great for your schedule, you can pick any day a week before or a week after the 8thof November. It’s about getting together and making the connections and having the long-overdue conversation about taking care of each other as we age.
When you sign up, make sure you choose my name (Richard Jones) in the drop-down box so they know that I managed to get you hosting.
If you can’t host a table, you will be able to go along to a public SAGE Table, the locations will be announced in a few weeks.
It’s not often that an organization speaks to my heart, but SAGE is doing work that we will all benefit from when we reach our elder years. We can’t afford to wait until we are in our elder years to start planning for old age.
If you have any questions about hosting a table head along to www.sageusa.org/join-sage-table, where you will find guides and help to make it all a success.
SAGE.org is a national advocacy and services organization that’s been looking out for LGBT elders since 1978. They build welcoming communities and keep our issues in the national conversation to ensure a fulfilling future for all LGBT people. For more info head to www.sage.org
