Dinner Club Community

In a corner house in a Bentonville neighborhood, High School girls are learning to like their vegetables. Every Monday (and sometimes Wednesdays) this semester, Bentonville High School Ozone students have met for “Dinner Club” and community at Assistant Director Ellie Chase’s home. They show up excitedly, ready for a nutritious meal and conversation with friends and leaders.

Traditions are formed; girls grow to expect warm bread and sweet tea with each dinner. After the first few weeks of Dinner Club, the girls became eager to learn and to serve their fellow ozone students. One high school sophomore, Brianna, enters the kitchen each Monday and pulls out the ingredients to brew sweet tea. She serves her peers weekly, crafting something she’s learned to make through instruction during one of the first dinners. Another student, Allison, a Bentonville High School Freshman, prepares salads with creativity and willingness to serve. Others offer help in everything from food preparation to clean up. Girls celebrate with one another as “Birthday Dinners” are joyously recognized, complete with a birthday song and candles.

Throughout the course of Dinner Club this semester, knowledge of food, nutrition and cooking has been in focus. During a three-week cooking challenge, groups of girls and leaders researched recipes, wrote up shopping lists and led in the kitchen in order to feed others. Each meal keeps fresh ingredients, vegetables and natural foods in mind, guiding girls in proper eating habits without making it about rules or obligations.

Dinner Club has built a close community in Bentonville Ozone through fellowship, service and fun. Girls are learning and growing together in an environment of support and trust. And that environment has the occasional ice cream sandwich for dessert.