Stone Soup Saturday Meal

Saturday, July 23, 2022, 12:00 pm until 1:30 pm
399 Main Street, Greenfield, MA - Red Door on Hope Street

Join us this Saturday to survive the HEAT WAVE together!

Americans began to take urban heat seriously after 1995, when a record-breaking heat wave — three days of triple-digit heat — baked Chicago.

Ordinarily, heat waves fail to produce the kind of spectacular imagery we see in other disasters, like earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes and floods. Heat doesn’t generate much property damage, nor does it reveal its force to the camera or naked eye. Heat waves are invisible killers of old, poor and other mostly invisible people. Until the summer of 1995, medical examiners and media outlets often neglected to report heat-related deaths altogether.

But the great Chicago heat wave changed things. It caused so much suffering that at one point nearly half the city’s emergency rooms closed their doors to new patients. Hospitals were not the only institutions stretched beyond capacity by the heat. Streets buckled. Trains derailed. The power grid failed. Water pressure diminished. Ambulances were delayed.

Chicago learned from the disaster, and today it is a national leader in planning for the next acute heat emergency. The city compiles a list of old, isolated and vulnerable residents, and public workers contact them when dangerous weather arrives. City officials and community organizations promote awareness and encourage residents to check in on one another. The local news media treat heat waves as true public health hazards. Everyone knows how perilous the new climate can be. Let's take care of each other.

Have our delicious Saturday lunch delivered! >> bit.ly/reserve-a-meal

---> Pay-What-You-Can for your meal

---> Give us a 10th birthday gift!

---> Volunteer at the cafe!

Lots o' Love, Chef Kirsten & the Café Crew