The UCLA Volunteer Center held the Fall Harvest Feast on Nov. 26 for students who could not go home for a Thanksgiving dinner. An assortment of delicious food was made available along with soothing music, creating a relaxing ambiance.
“Lots of students are not going home this weekend, especially international students,” said the Volunteer Center Program coordinator Jeffrey Hwang. “We basically hold this event for students who won’t be going home but would like to experience a Thanksgiving meal.”
Sophomore student Marisa Boyler expressed her gratitude for the event, especially because she has to stay for Thanksgiving weekend for her job at the Hedrick Hall front desk.
“I have to stay here, which is why this is nice, I can still have a Thanksgiving meal,” she said.
Though there were some students at the dinner in similar circumstances, many of the students present were international students who were a part of UCLA Extension and had not had a Thanksgiving meal before.
“I feel so appreciated, it’s my first time at an American holiday event,” said UCLA Extension student Kuk Kim from South Korea. “This is my first time eating turkey. I was curious about that.”
While the turkey was quite popular among attendees, other items were a hit as well.
“I don’t think anything was bad, it’s all good,” said Boyler. “I loved the stuffing. The mac and cheese and cheesecake are really good too.”
The UCLA Volunteer Center has held the Fall Harvest Feast for many years. While they had to change the event during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is now back to its standard buffet style.
“During COVID it was takeout, but last year we went back in person,” said Hwang. “Students are always very appreciative so that always makes it worth it.”
The target registration number is 150 students, with the Volunteer Center promoting the event through contact departments, especially to the UCLA Dashew Center, but information was also sent to UCLA Extension students and it was promoted through the Volunteer Center Newsletter and Instagram. The event was not extremely crowded but enough people were present to have group conversations over the long tables.
“In previous years, people showed up at different times, but this year people came at once,” said Hwang. “Since it got crowded, people had to sit next to one another and it was nice to see the conversations flowing, including between people that might have met for the first time tonight.”
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Featured image via Element5 Digital on Unsplash
