Back in 2023, Karl Schatz and her husband and wife team Margaret Hathaway recently published two books on Maine Community Recipes when they heard that American surgeon Vivek Murthy declared the loneliness epidemic. "This is associated with greater risks of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety and premature death," Musi wrote. "Loneliness is as risky as smoking 15 cigarettes a day or never exercising, he elaborates. Shatz told me that Hathaway and Shatz’s books are filled with recipes and stories from all over Maine and people have been telling them that they love these books very much about them.

This makes Schatz and Hathaway wonder, maybe if they can uniquely provide an antidote to loneliness. Together they will build a community board. The organization aims to create chunky dinners throughout Maine towns, even if they are together, people will get together and they don’t know each other. Everyone can share a dish and decide they can tell stories.

So it was on the latest March drizzle that Hathaway and Schatz and their daughter Charlotte shared Sunday’s story in Norway, Maine.

All three greeted at the door and spoke to each other when the first guests arrived. People filtered, and a lot of casseroles arrived again - parades in Maine after all - even the old classic mung beans. Reed McLean told me it was “directly from the jar.” I asked, "Did you help?" He replied, "I didn't. OK, I turned on the oven."

The atmosphere in the room was joyful and light. Shatz looked around and said, “You know, I think people think it’s a gift to the community, it’s a chance for people to get together.”

He told me, to be honest, he and Hathaway didn't know at first Exactly They are providing. Then a woman in their first dinner was actually defined for them: “She just moved to Maine, she was a grandmother, she moved here to close to her grandchildren, and she came to the table across from me. I asked her what brought her to dinner and she said, “I’m here because I’m lonely.” "This is the first time I've heard someone speak out loud."

Just a few weeks ago, the 2025 World Happiness Report issued a warning: “Social connections are crucial to human health, happiness and prosperity.” According to the report’s solution? People need to sit down and have a meal together. Hathaway agrees that we need this more than ever now. “Just as our culture becomes more divided, there are a lot of questions that never thought of becoming a hot button issue.

When I talked to the guest, a woman named June Howard was eager to tell me what she was going to share tonight. (Spoiler: This is a casserole dish.) She said: “It has chicken.

Ruby Bryant, who sat next to her, told me she was happy to be here tonight because she needed to leave. Two weeks ago, there was a bad fire in the house next to her.

“We heard the impact on the door, so we went downstairs in our pajamas and that was the police, and then they knocked the door down and they said, take your coat and get out, your house is melting.”

Although Kobe said she was gluten-free and brought her own dinner, everyone was waiting for the buffet while she chatted with other guests.

Soon Schatz brought his microphone on and encouraged people to enter the buffet line by table. “We’re going to start with this table here because you guys are here first, so I know that means you’re hungry.”

When everyone finally sat down to eat, Shatz stood up again and picked up the microphone. His mission is to get people connected and talk. He advises: "If you want to, if you sit with someone on a dinner with one every night of the week and you decide you want to have someone else tonight, you have my permission to sit with someone else. We encourage you to do so and maybe make new connections because that's why we're here tonight."

And, if anyone is worried about them have To stand up and tell a story, he said, “In terms of story sharing, people often ask, ‘Do I have to share a story?’ The answer is ‘No’. You don’t have to share a story.

The room became quiet, and only the jingle of silverware and chewing were heard. Brendan Schauffler stood up and walked to the front of the room. He rubbed his hands together and then picked up the microphone. He began to tell a story about his father's loneliness, which led to his father's final suicide when Schauffler was a teenager. Looking around the room, the fork fell down, the face still, everyone was listening.

Brendan admitted: “I feel like my face forgetting the shape of the smile, and I will be trapped in this place forever. I am determined not to lose the opportunity to tell me the opportunity to care about what they mean to me again.

After two other storytellers, the evening begins to end, people are putting on coats and collecting ladders and crock pots. Then, a man who asked NPR to name him to protect his family from further pain, knocked Schauffler on the shoulder.

"I want to thank you for your story. I also lost someone who was very close to me. I lost my 13-year-old son to commit suicide. It's hard for me, but I really admire your courage."

Two men hugged each other. Schauffler said to the man's ear, "I'm sorry for your loss." They began to separate, then leaned again, holding again.

Connection moments like this are unplanned and profound. The recipe is so simple: a Sunday night, a tarp, some neighbors and some stories. The Community Section provides Maine with an antidote, once loneliness and disconnection, and once a supper.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 for Suicide and Crisis Lifeline to text or chat.