Strangers come together to celebrate "Friendsgiving" in San Francisco's Dolores Park
While the holidays are about gathering together with your loved ones at the dinner table, that is not always possible.
Oftentimes, people find themselves unable to go home to their family, or spend the holiday alone.
One local meet-up group in San Francisco has been continuing a tradition at Dolores Park where strangers come together to celebrate a Friendsgiving Potluck.
"I had a lot of students, a lot of foreign students who were here and they had a hard time during the holidays. They didn't know what to do, and they had no idea how to celebrate Thanksgiving because their family is abroad. So, this prompted me to start this Friendsgiving event," Roderick Portales, the host of the potluck, told CBS News Bay Area.
Portales is the founder of SF Bable, an international cultural exchange group. He began hosting the potluck about six years ago.
"I ask everybody to bring not a big dish, but a small dish for everybody to share together," he said.
The tradition soon grew larger each year. The event wasn't just for foreign exchange students but rather for anyone who may find themselves alone during the holidays.
"I, unfortunately, am not going back home right now. And I did want to spend Thanksgiving with other people and get to meet other people," Edwin Omorogbe-Akpata, who lives in San Francisco, told CBS News Bay Area.
He moved to the Bay Area earlier this year for his engineering job.
The event is also a special meet up for people who are interested in potentially moving to the city.
"Before you move somewhere, you want to make sure you got the right people there and that it fits. And I saw this online and I thought, 'Hey, what a great place to meet other people.' And you know, if they don't have family or friends in town, they can go make new friends," a man named John, who did not want to share his last name, told CBS news Bay Area.
"I feel like I'm building a great community and people stay connected even if they go abroad, they live very far away, they still stay connected to me and also to the other members," Portales said.
From strangers to friends, the potluck helped make it an even more memorable Thanksgiving.