Today's post is written by Delores Morton, President of the Points of Light Programs Division.

The word supper means different things to different people, but for this Louisiana girl it evokes memories of red beans and spicy Andouille sausage or, in winter months, a large pot of gumbo. 

Supper time in our household was a raucous event full of stories and the occasional argument. It was a time for encouraging dreams and providing comfort in disappointment. It was a time for prayer and praise, music and laughter. 

This week, I had the opportunity to engage in this supper-time ritual with a diverse group of community leaders from Chicago that came together to talk about how to help our kids succeed. With our host, Israel Idonije – a Chicago Bears player and founder of the Israel Idonije Foundation – we shared a meal, talked, listened and built understanding. “A day like this,” he said, “will go a long way to transforming so many young lives.”

We heard from Mayor Rahm Emanuel about the strides the City of Chicago is making to ensure children have the chance to achieve success. “The measure of our success in all these initiatives will be when they see their future in the future of this city,” he said. “When a child looks downtown and can see that high rise, they can see their future. That’s when we know we’ve done our work.”

We heard from Laysha Ward, president of community relations at Target. “Americans are fully capable of having a civil discourse, pulling together to face some of our country’s most pressing issues,” she said. “There is no better place to have a healthy conversation than around the supper table.”

We heard from an inspirational young man, Derrius Quarles, who shared the difference that just one person in a single act made in his life.

More important than hearing from our distinguished guests was the opportunity to have intimate discussions in small groups where we dug in to talk about what it means to be a caring adult and how to recognize and reward healthy risk-taking, creativity and innovation in our kids.  

Israel Idonije closed America’s Sunday Supper by asking everyone in the room to “discuss what you can do together to grow your impact” and encouraged people to gather in their local libraries to meet and tackle issues together.

I think everyone in the room left the discussion knowing that while we may wear organizational or corporate hats for many of our waking hours, it is so important to be caring adults in our personal lives—to take the time to regularly support the academic challenges of a single child, reach back into our own extended families and neighborhoods to help make college access a reality and then support young people through college completion.

I headed home inspired and challenged by the great work of our partners at Target  and by the local leaders who are truly using their time, talent and voices to help future generations “knock down their own doors,” as Grammy Award-winning, hip hop poet J. Ivy said at the supper. 

I look forward to more opportunities to engage in America’s Sunday Supper large and small across the country over the next several months, as citizens and leaders gather to create community and find creative, citizen-led solutions to our local problems.

For information about how to host your own Sunday Supper and win a $25 gift card from Target, click here.

Watch our 2013 Sunday Supper video.