On October 22, National Make A Difference Day, 1,315 people from the local community came together in Verrado to attempt a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for The Largest Potluck Party. The event, hosted by the Verrado Assembly and The Giving Tree™, unofficially made Verrado’s attempt the largest in the nation.

While enjoying the multitude of unique dishes passed to one another along the one-third mile of dining tables, event goers danced to live music, snuggled with cute animals in the petting zoo, snapped a photo booth photo to commemorate the day, and claimed victory in the inflatable jousting arena and obstacle course.

Although the world record was not achieved, friends, family and neighbors enjoyed a fun and unique community gathering. More important than the record was discussion of the question, What You Will Bring to the Table?

In addition to bringing a favorite dish to share, 47 participants committed to support the missions of our local nonprofit organizations within The Giving Tree. Some committed sharing their time, while others committed their talents and/or resources to do great work in our community and around the globe.

If you missed connecting with The Giving Tree at our Potluck, you can still contribute to this incredible program by committing to one (or more!) of the 20 nonprofit organizations that serve the social, educational, welfare and enrichment needs of children, teens, aging adults, and four-legged friends.

It isn’t possible to host 1,315 people for an event of this scale without support from the community.

Approximately 94 volunteers contributed over 275 hours to assist with logistics and operations to meet the Guinness guidelines. Some volunteers also helped Recycled City, a local composting organization, divert trash into the proper receptacles. Nearly 58.2% of the collected waste was composted and recycled. Composted material will be used at The Orchard Community Learning Center.

Our event sponsors also contributed to the overall potluck success: EPCOR Water and The Edge Church in addition to Benevilla, BT Bouncies, Costco® Wholesale, Event Rents, LLC, Main Street Lofts at Verrado, Pride Group, LLC, Republic Services, S.E.E.D., Summit Community Church, The Goddard School® and West Valley Arts Council.

The quintessential small town tradition of potlucks will never be the same in Verrado. Our community went big, coming together to break bread and a national record. And best of all, to connect participants’ philanthropic passions to The Giving Tree.

To continue receiving communications surrounding volunteer opportunities and events of The Giving Tree please subscribe. For more information and a full list of partnership organizations within The Giving Tree program visit verrado.com.