Elizabeth Luna receives a plate of food during the 38th annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio on Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017. The event is named after a restauranteur and businessman who started the event in 1979. (Billy Calzada/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)
lessElizabeth Luna receives a plate of food during the 38th annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio on Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017. The event is named after a
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Connie Paredes, right, holds hands with Ricky Lowrimore and Tammy Lowrimore during their Thanksgiving Day meal at the Salvation Army in Tyler, Texas on Thursday Nov. 23, 2017. (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph)
lessConnie Paredes, right, holds hands with Ricky Lowrimore and Tammy Lowrimore during their Thanksgiving Day meal at the Salvation Army in Tyler, Texas on Thursday Nov. 23, 2017. (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning
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Mason Nix, 6 1/2, looks over at other plates as he and other volunteers work to prepare plates for guests during Hiway 80 Rescue Mission's annual Thanksgiving meal in Tyler, Texas, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017. The ministry estimates they will serve around 1,100 meals at their Tyler and Longview locations. (Chelsea Purgahn/Tyler Morning Telegraph via AP)
lessMason Nix, 6 1/2, looks over at other plates as he and other volunteers work to prepare plates for guests during Hiway 80 Rescue Mission's annual Thanksgiving meal in Tyler, Texas, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017. The
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The University of Texas of the Permian Basin basketball team's Renard Thomas, right, hands a plate of food to Fred Cavarreo at The Salvation Army's Thanksgiving dinner Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017, at The Salvation Army headquarters in Odessa, Texas. (Jacob Ford/Odessa American via AP)
lessThe University of Texas of the Permian Basin basketball team's Renard Thomas, right, hands a plate of food to Fred Cavarreo at The Salvation Army's Thanksgiving dinner Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017, at The Salvation
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Christopher Scott Sherlock III and his father, Christopher Scott Sherlock Jr., attend the 38th annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017. The event is named after a restauranteur and businessman who started the event in 1979. (Billy Calzada/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)
lessChristopher Scott Sherlock III and his father, Christopher Scott Sherlock Jr., attend the 38th annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Dinner at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017. The
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Volunteer Pamela Lee sings for guests at The Salvation Army's Thanksgiving dinner, Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017, in Odessa, Texas (Jacob Ford/Odessa American via AP)
Volunteer Pamela Lee sings for guests at The Salvation Army's Thanksgiving dinner, Thursday, Nov. 23, 2017, in Odessa, Texas (Jacob Ford/Odessa American via AP)
Photo: Jacob Ford|Odessa American, AP
Chris Conlan leads the runners at the start of the 27th annual ThunderCloud Subs Turkey Trot in downtown Austin, Texas, on Thursday Nov. 23, 2017. Proceeds benefit Caritas of Austin, a nonprofit organization that provides housing, employment, education, and food services to homeless, working poor, and documented refugees in Travis County. ( Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
lessChris Conlan leads the runners at the start of the 27th annual ThunderCloud Subs Turkey Trot in downtown Austin, Texas, on Thursday Nov. 23, 2017. Proceeds benefit Caritas of Austin, a nonprofit organization
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Thanksgiving feasts in Texas cater to refugees, the homeless
DALLAS (AP) — Seven years ago, Samira Page and a small group of fellow refugees sat around her table where the guests experienced their first traditional American Thanksgiving Day feast.
This year, the Iranian native invited about 400 refugees for the meal that has outgrown her home and become an annual event.
"For some of these people, this is their first Thanksgiving. We have refugees who have been here less than a month. And we have some who have been here five years," said Page, founder and executive director of Gateway of Grace, a Christian outreach ministry for refugees.
The guests at her feast are from Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. Elsewhere in Texas, communities served Thanksgiving meals to the homeless and victims of Hurricane Harvey.
Page's own journey came 19 years ago, when she traveled from Iran to Turkey, to Mexico, to the United States. She converted to Christianity and studied for the ministry at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
One of her outreach methods is to present traditional feasts, including Christmas and Easter. But she starts with Thanksgiving.
"Imagine being brand new in a country at the start of the holidays," Page said. "No extended family, no one to share it with. And every day you see people and stores gear up for a celebration you're no part of."
What started with four or five fellow refugees gathered around her dining room table for turkey and sides seven years ago has grown to fill the parish hall of St. John's Episcopal Church near White Rock Lake in northeastern Dallas.
Some of the refugees are not accustomed to the taste of turkey, Page said, so she serves them an alternative: chicken.
Other Thanksgiving feasts in Texas cater to the homeless and residents still recovering from Harvey, which made landfall in the state as a Category 4 hurricane on Aug. 25 and brought massive flooding.
In Southeast Texas, the Cajun Army emergency volunteer group prepared hundreds of meals in Houston and Orange for families still without kitchen facilities because of damage from Harvey.
The annual Raul Jimenez Thanksgiving Day Dinner prepared more than 25,000 meals Thursday in San Antonio. The first Jimenez Thanksgiving dinner served about 100 dinners in 1979.
In Austin, Operation Turkey provided about 40,000 Thanksgiving meals to the homeless.
Houston held the Thanksgiving Superfeast for about 10,000 homeless people outside City Hall.
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This story has been corrected to show that the first event was held seven years ago, not nine years ago.
http://www.timesunion.com/news/texas/article/Iranian-refugee-brings-Thanksgiving-to-12379746.php
