Spicy Lentils Join Turkey for ECDC First Thanksgiving Dinner
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Spicy Lentils Join Turkey for ECDC First Thanksgiving Dinner

A refugee family chooses from among more than 30 dishes at the ECDC annual First Thanksgiving Dinner at the ECDC Community Center on N. Highland on Nov. 19. They examine the traditional corn pudding and head for the spicy red lentils. The dishes range from grilled chicken from Sudan, El Salvadoran pupusas, Afghan rice and lentils and American turkey and mac and cheese.

A refugee family chooses from among more than 30 dishes at the ECDC annual First Thanksgiving Dinner at the ECDC Community Center on N. Highland on Nov. 19. They examine the traditional corn pudding and head for the spicy red lentils. The dishes range from grilled chicken from Sudan, El Salvadoran pupusas, Afghan rice and lentils and American turkey and mac and cheese. Photo by Shirley Ruhe.

Monday, November 20, 2017

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Photo by Shirley Ruhe

Sarah Zullo, director of the local Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC) metro area chapter, welcomes refugees to the 6th First Thanksgiving Dinner for refugees. She says since all of those attending have arrived in the last year, this is truly their first Thanksgiving. They expect between 200-300 refugees, mostly Afghan but also from El Salvador, Sudan and other African countries.

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Photo by Shirley Ruhe

Two Syrian women bring their lentil and macaroni dish with fried bread (on the top). It will be squeezed in with the other aluminum-covered dishes covering a U-shaped table at the Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC) dinner Nov. 19. Hekmatullah Latifi, an ECDC caseworker explains this is a party for families who come from around the world “so we can share our culture and show them how much we love them here.” After dinner, popular music from the countries of the people who are attending the dinner will be played.

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Photo by Shirley Ruhe

A crowd of refugees and immigrants are already seated at brightly decorated tables waiting for their First Thanksgiving Dinner to begin. Others line the wall waiting for their turn to have a seat. Before the evening is over between 200-300 will have tasted their first American turkey, with gravy and pumpkin pie. ECDC is one of the voluntary agencies working in partnership with the Department of State and the Office of Refugee Resettlement to provide initial placement and support services to refugees with a special focus on African refugees being resettled in the United States.

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