This Thanksgiving has been a challenging time for many Americans. The staggering loss of human life due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the damage inflicted to our economy—all occurring within an especially divisive election year—have made this year’s collective expression of giving thanks all the more important.

USCRI expressed its gratitude to the people we serve by distributing the Thanksgiving icon that commemorates the hospitality shown by the native American community to the colonial settlers–Meleagris, or the Thanksgiving turkey, along with other food items and gift cards.

Led by USCRI President and CEO Eskinder Negash, USCRI staff across all of our field offices delivered the critical components of a Thanksgiving dinner to our newest Americans—recently resettled refugees. “Thanksgiving is a special time for families and friends to share a meal together and reflect on all we have been given as a family, a community and as a nation. This year the pandemic had restricted our ability to gather our family and friends together around the same table. We are grateful for the opportunity to provide this special meal to our New American neighbors in the same spirit Native Americans generously welcomed the settlers hundreds of years ago,” said Eskinder.

On one day a year, our diverse communities across the U.S., with the iconic turkey as a centerpiece, complement this gigantic bird with foods brought over with them from their countries of birth. USCRI hopes that the refugee families we served this year remember their first Thanksgiving and continue to celebrate a day devoted to family, friends and community.

USCRI Detroit