Share Thanksgiving (Canada) -- New program to bring the Harvest holiday to immigrants

from Oct. 11, 2013 coverage by the GLOBE and MAIL -- (online newspaper/periodical) Share Thanksgiving was launched in Toronto in 2012 by Engineers Without Borders Canada co-founder Parker Mitchell. The impetus was simple: Mr. Mitchell had spent much of the previous year travelling and wanted to replicate the generosity he'd experienced in homes abroad. “The feeling of being welcomed in a country that's not our own, that was what inspired us to bring this to Canada,” says Robyn Chatwin-Davies, Canadian director of Share Thanksgiving and the muscle behind the organization's expansion to seven new cities from coast to coast. Where 100 families were joined in last year's pilot initiative, this year's Thanksgiving match-up is poised to reach 1,000. Its original target was 500. “We're getting 50 to 100 signups per day,” says Ms. Chatwin-Davies, who credits social media word-of-mouth for aiding the process. Toronto’s Dallas Bergen is one of this year's first-time Share Thanksgiving hosts. After learning about the program through Facebook last year, he “made it a priority” to get involved in 2013. While he doesn't know many specific details about the family he will be having over for dinner, he knows they're from Uzbekistan and have two toddlers. “Which will be great, because we’ve got a two-year-old daughter as well,” says Mr. Bergen. “So we’re looking forward to making a connection with that family.” Mr. Bergen sees Thanksgiving as an especially meaningful holiday in that it invites the opportunity to reflect on the year while also recognizing, and celebrating, the patterns of migration that have formed the Canadian fabric. His own wife is an immigrant from Israel. “Intercultural exchange is something that’s really important to me, and I think we can make a great difference in the life of a new Canadian family by giving them that connection,” he says. While it may seem a small gesture, being invited into the home of an established Canadian family can bear great meaning for new arrivals still sussing out their place in the Canadian cultural framework. An estimated 1.2 million people immigrated to Canada between 2006 and 2011, according to Statistics Canada. One in five people in the country are foreign born. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/thanksgiving-family-match-up-introduces-new-canadians-to-holiday-traditions/article14845423/