Church and community groups host Thanksgiving dinner for migrants in Woburn
WOBURN - More than 200 newly arrived migrants got a warm welcome Sunday, where a local church hosted them for a Thanksgiving dinner.
The families gathered at the YMCA gymnasium for the dinner and the children were also presented with gifts.
The dinner was organized by the Revive City Church and several other community groups, who said they wanted to make the migrants feel welcome and connect them to services to help them get adjusted to life in Massachusetts. Most of the migrant families who attended the dinner are from Haiti and Cuba.
"This is providing them an experience that they've probably never had before," said Bianca Martinez of Revive City Church. "This is bringing them joy in a new way."
"A lot of them have come recently and we just want to make sure that like they feel like this is a welcoming community and the Y definitely is that," said Kathryn Saunders of the YMCA of Greater Boston.
All the food and gifts for the event were donated. Organizers also took the opportunity to advise families on signing up for things like child care and after-school programs.