By Gabriela C. Martinez

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If you have been planning to try out some of Somerville’s international cuisine, The Welcome Projects invites you to the Armory on April 16, where you will have the chance gastronomically travel around the world and experience the cuisine of Mexico, Ireland, Ethiopia, Brazil, and India in one place. The Welcome Project, an organization dedicated to providing support to Somerville’s immigrant communities, will be hosting YUM: A Taste of Immigrant City. The event will also be an opportunity for the Welcome Project to celebrate its 25 years as a non-profit.

“The Welcome Project’s mission is focused on highlighting the strengths and contributions of immigrants in Somerville and making sure that people who are immigrants in the city have a voice and are made to feel at home. One we can do that is to highlight the contributions of immigrant-run restaurants,” said Warren Goldstein-Gelb, the Executive Director of The Welcome Project.

This year, YUM will host 13 immigrant-run food establishments, many of which have been part of YUM since 2010, the year when the event was launched. Since 2010, the event has been growing and forming partnerships with other local community programs, such as Shape Up Somerville, a city program dedicated to promoting health and fitness amongst Somerville’s communities. Because they provide healthy choices in their menus, the restaurants featured in the 2015 Yum have received approval from Shape Up Somerville. As part of this health initiative, each restaurant station will feature a Shape Up-approved dish.

The event also features music from Son del Son, an Ecuadorian band; an award ceremony for outstanding members of Somerville’s community, and a story-telling session, narrated by ESL students from the Welcome Project. The stories will be narrated in the students’ native language and will be interpreted simultaneously by the Welcome Project’s Liaison Interpreter Program of Somerville (LIPS), which consists of bilingual high-school students from Somerville High practicing to become professional interpreters.

The Welcome Project is also selling YUM cards, which give patrons %10 off food orders of more than $25 or more at 13 immigrant-run restaurants in Somerville. The proceeds from the sales will provide support to The Welcome Project’s education programs and immigrant advocacy projects.

Find out more about the restaurants featured at the event at the Welcome Project’s YUM blog: https://yumsomervilleblog.wordpress.com.