International holiday unites community

By Lauren Gibbons | Originally Published: 11/20/11 8:45pm |Modified: 11/20/11 8:46pm | No comments

Anthony Thibodeau | The State News

Colin Smith, 4, bites into one of the many deserts available at the Thanksgiving Feast at Red Cedar Elementary School on Sunday afternoon. This year marked the first Thanksgiving Feast hosted by the Community Relations Coalition. Anthony Thibodeau/The State News

An international Thanksgiving feast held this weekend gave students, East Lansing community members and international residents the opportunity to eat food, meet new people and kick off the holiday season.

The feast, hosted by the Community Relations Coalition, or CRC, in partnership with MSU Spanish Club, La Casa and the MSU Saudi Student Organization, was held at Red Cedar Elementary School, 1110 Narcissus Drive.

The afternoon lunch combined aspects of the traditional American Thanksgiving holiday with various dishes and treats from other nationalities brought by those who attended.

Olivia Seifert, intern coordinator for the CRC, said the diverse aspect of including international flair with a traditional American dinner would bring students and community together.

“We thought partnering a traditional American holiday with an opportunity to celebrate the international diversity with this community would be a cool event,” Seifert said.

Seifert said the event drew a lot of involvement from students, permanent residents, such as Mayor Diane Goddeeris and the international community and said it had the potential to become an annual occurrence if future CRC interns chose to host it.

Doctoral student Ting Shen, originally from China, appreciated the CRC’s efforts as she is interested in meeting new people and making new friends during her time at MSU.

“I like to come (to community events) to meet new friends,” Shen said.

La Casa President and anthropology and history senior Paige Wojcik was happy to involve her club in the festivities to garner more attention and support of international friendship.

“We were really excited to connect with some of the international organizations,” Wojcik said.

For CRC intern and English and French senior Ryan Waldron, the feast’s overall success was touching and inspiring because of the international diversity and community connection.

“It really incorporated with CRC’s goals, especially here in Red Cedar, seeing as they have such a diverse international community,” Waldron said.

“I’m really inspired by what I saw.”