TAMPA – A little boy, maybe two, ambled by in stocking feet, tiny white sneakers clutched in one hand, looking a bit disoriented. People pushed back from their tables, orange turkey paper plates glossy with gravy and fringed with stuffing. As per Thanksgivings everywhere, it was days of planning and strategy, hours of cooking, for what amounts to 15 minutes of focused eating.
Only this one was bigger. Much bigger. Nearly 250 people filled every table at the University of South Florida Gibbons Alumni Center on Sunday afternoon. For almost all, this was a first Thanksgiving spread. They came from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, from Syria, Afghanistan, El Salvador and Eritrea. They were largely frightened of green bean casserole, dubious about mac and cheese. But there was no way these refugees were inured to the love and welcoming kindness of the dozens of volunteers and event coordinators.
The organizers started talking about putting together an interfaith Thanksgiving feast more than a year ago. Leaders from churches and Islamic advocacy groups met; they in turn met with folks from the Tampa Bay Refugee Task Force.
What they realized was that all Abrahamic traditions – that’s Judaism, Christianity, Islam and more – espouse mutual understanding, tolerance and dialogue.
“And they all proclaim that despite our difference, all of our traditions preach love of human kind and service to humanity,” said Hyde Park United Methodist pastor Sally Campbell-Evans.
The gathering of refugees of different faiths in some sense echoed that very first Thanksgiving in Plymouth in November 1621. It was a celebration of difference, and also of newfound homeland. These people in the faith community and in local nonprofits were in agreement. Just one fly in the ointment: Who was going to do the food?
Will Wellman of Palma Ceia Presbyterian was family friends with Michelle Baker of the Refinery in Seminole Heights. He suggested she come to a planning meeting, at which she asked simply, “Do you want me to ask some of my chef friends if they will participate?”
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