While most students are thankful for a break away from research papers and looming final exams, Thanksgiving isn’t a comforting family holiday for everyone. A local advocacy and support group is offering a community alternative.
Young Feminist Meetup, a youth-outreach affiliate of the West Kentucky National Organization for Women, is hosting a Friendsgiving potluck at noon this Saturday, Nov. 22, at the Marshall County Library Benton Branch. Reagan Peery, the event organizer and co-leader of the Young Feminist Meetup, said she wants this event to be as welcoming and accessible as possible to the community, especially to Murray State students who won’t have a traditional Thanksgiving this year.
“I felt it would be something NOW could host (to) help people feel a little bit more included in the community and better around the holidays,” Peery said. “It’s a pretty personal event for me … It really puts into perspective that a lot of people also aren’t having a traditional Thanksgiving.”
The Young Feminist Friendsgiving is open to all, but a link for attendance and food contributions for the event is available on the West Kentucky NOW’s Facebook page to help the event organizers and volunteers know how much food to prepare. Peery said she is planning a trivia game for the event with holiday-related questions as well as feminist history and women’s health topics to tie into the organization’s broader community values.
“Before NOW, I had an overall feeling of a certain level of isolation living in Kentucky,” she said. “Joining NOW and getting to meet my co-leader, Sam (Sexton), inspired me in so many ways to even do this position and … find a sense of belonging and community. I think for Friendsgiving, it’s the same kind of wanting to find a sense of family and community of people who are like-minded, open and kind.”
Presley Billingsley (they/she), a freshman psychology major, is the president of the recently formed NOW Campus Action Network, a student group aiming to improve education, service and action on Murray State’s main campus. In CAN’s first meeting on Nov. 17, Billingsley and Sam Sexton, co-leader of the Young Feminist Meetup, encouraged attending students to join the event.
Billingsley said the Young Feminist Friendsgiving is a great way to build connection and comfort through “good food and good people (that) truly make you feel loved.”
“I know our culture highlights connection and family during this time of year, so being alone hits extra hard,” Billingsley said. “For people not connected with their families, whether it be by distance, circumstances or death, I hope that this Friendsgiving can give them some food, friends and fun during the holiday season.”
Peery said she intends for next year’s Young Feminist Friendsgiving to partner with CAN and the Murray Transit Authority to ensure more Murray State students, particularly international students who stay on campus over break, have the opportunity to come together with a community who welcomes them warmly.
