Izadi (middle top) and attendees at the 2013 Thanksgiving luncheon: gatewayofgrace.org
It’s not a religious or dietary restriction that keeps some area dwellers off the Thanksgiving turkey, but an aversion.
Eating a turkey, to some refugees from foreign countries, is unappealing — like if I, for example, traveled to Thailand and had to face a plate of Jing Leed (deep-fried cricket).
So, Samira Izadi Page, a refugee from Iran and the founder of Gateway of Grace, a charity that serves neighborhood refugees, is partnering with White Rock area-based St. John’s Episcopal Church to host a huge Thanksgiving Day lunch that includes American staples such as macaroni and cheese, potatoes, pies and casseroles but replaces turkey with chicken. Page explains it like this: “Chicken because, of the nine countries (with six religious backgrounds) at the table, turkeys are foreign and, frankly, unappetizing.”
She adds that the meal will echo the first Thanksgiving, “when locals shared bounty with newcomers.”
The event takes place Thanksgiving Day from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at 848 Harter.
This is the fourth annual Thanksgiving lunch hosted by Gateway, Page says, noting that volunteers from all around North Texas come to help. Last year they served 180 people.
St. John’s director Father David Houk will play guitar and sing, and the guests, mostly refugees Page calls “pre-Americans,” will leave with gift cards, gift baskets, a few raffle prizes and, hopefully, one thing more, says Page: Hope. “Most current refugees are here from war-torn areas believing this is the best country in the world where their strife, fear, and suffering will be over. Hope gives them courage to leave everything and start anew in this beautiful and wonderful country.” Read the Advocate’s story about Samira Izadi Page here.
