Sumptuous international cuisine and lively music highlighted The Welcome Project’s YUM event at The Arts at the Armory last Thursday. — Photos by Gabriela Martinez

By Gabriela Martinez

Last Thursday, The Welcome Project celebrated its 25 years of supporting immigrant communities in Somerville at Arts at the Armory. The event featured 13 immigrant-run Somerville restaurants, all of which were endorsed by Shape Up Somerville for including healthy dishes in their menus. The guests were able to sample the delicious tastes of these restaurants while listening to live music from Son Del Sol.

As part of the event’s award ceremony, the Welcome Project awarded the Intercultural City Award to Franklin Dalembert and the Founder’s Award to Brukilacchio. On the third floor of the armory, volunteers from Welcome Project’s Liaison Interpreter Program of Somerville (LIPS) held a storytelling session, in which with three students from the Welcome Project’s ESL Program, Juan Acevedo, Ysora Lopez, and Tenzin Chokki, talked about their immigration stories in their native language; the volunteers provided a live interpretation through a headset system.