STATESBORO — One Boro invites all people of Statesboro to participate in the Multimedia Diversity Showcase.

Residents of Statesboro can submit all types of media based on businesses, individuals, a community group or student organization that are actively inclusive and pursuing diversity, according to Suzanne Shurling, a city commissioner. 

Submissions for the showcase are due Sept. 29.

“We want to showcase how folks are already practicing being diverse and inclusive in Statesboro,” Shurling said. 

Awards will be given out at The Longest Table event on Oct. 12 for various different categories, voted on by different community members at the event.

“If you bring people together and fuss at them about you’re not being diverse enough, it doesn’t get through,” Shurling said. “There are negative connotations of the word, diversity, so we want to show people that you are already doing this.”

Statesboro Food Bank serves a wide population of the community. At The Longest Table event, everyone is welcome to a free meal but, “we need to feed our community beyond that,” Shurling said. 

It is encouraged to bring non-perishables to the event to support the people beneath the poverty line in the county. 

“Those of you who can, bring some food for folks to take home,” Shurling said.

Comprised of GS professors, retired community members and counselors, One Boro is Statesboro’s City Commission for diversity and inclusion.

“We kinda see ourselves as the representation for the city to take the city’s concerns on diversity and inclusion to city government,” Shurling said.

After being establishing in Nov. 2018, one of the first actions One Boro took to further spread their mission was listening sessions all over the City of Statesboro. This allowed community members to come and tell the staff what areas needed to be improved.

Shurling wants this to become an annual event in Statesboro. The Longest Table facilitates conversation and turns strangers into neighbors. 

Their flyer reads, “meet your neighbors,” encouraging people to talk to others in the community that they have never spoken to before. 

The Longest Table will be held outside of city campus on 58 East Main St. from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Submissions for the Multimedia Diversity Showcase can be submitted here.

Sarah Smith, The George-Anne News Editor, gaeditor@georgiasouthern.edu