Lakeland College is hosting a Thanksgiving dinner for students who aren’t able to make it home for the holidays.
The dinner will be at the Lloydminster campus in the cafeteria and starts at 8 p.m. on Saturday, October 12. The dinner will be traditional with turkey and will also have vegetarian options.
The event started last year and was inspired by the Coca-Cola campaign #LetsEatTogether which promoted sharing a meal with someone wherever the may be in the world.
Last year about 120 students from both campuses attended the Thanksgiving dinner. Event Coordinator William Yap is expecting 150 students to attend this year and says the event helps introduce a different part of Canadian culture to international students and make it feel like their home.Â
“For those who have never experienced Thanksgiving we wanted to introduce the culture of counting your blessings and being thankful and give them the family-style supper that we’ve come to love.”
Yap says many of the students who attended the event last year came for the food but ended getting closer to other students they may not be able to meet otherwise.
“The students were able to meet and get to know other people from different programs and different campuses. There were a lot of friendships that blossomed between Lloydminster and Vermilion students last year.”
Yap says because Lakeland College doesn’t have a Reading Week like other post-secondary schools in Alberta, the dinner will help the students keep their mind off their studies.
“In and around October and November is when it gets really stressful for the students in the first semester, so we have this weekend to recharge. I think having a weekend full of food and laughter would be a wonderful way to destress the students.”