James Alic Garang already considers himself a part of the American culture, though he has lived in Salt Lake City for less than six months.
This Sudanese native enrolled at Salt Lake Community College only a few weeks after arriving in Utah in June. He now studies economics and plans to attend the University of Utah within the next year to study law.
On top of learning from his professors, Garang has to learn about his surroundings and the new land that is his temporary home. He plans to return to Sudan as a lawyer.
“We are new in the country, and I have always said, ‘when in Rome, do what the Romans are doing,'” said Garang, who came to the United States with a group of 22 other men from Kenya, where he lived for the past seven years.
“Thanksgiving is a very big day in this country,” he said.
While he doesn’t have any family to visit on this U.S. holiday, Garang will have the traditional meal of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pie.
The Latter-day Saints Institute of Religion is hosting a Thanksgiving dinner tonight at the church on the corner of Wasatch Drive and South Campus Drive across from Fort Douglas.
“It’s for those who don’t have an opportunity to go home or don’t have a family to go visit,” said Joe Wixom, chairman of the missionary committee of the Institute Council.
Garang and his housemates plan on attending.
“We feel welcome in the community,” he said.
The institute has held similar dinners in past years, but for the first time, the council marketed the event to those outside of the LDS community.
“I didn’t see any reason why we shouldn’t reach out to those who don’t have a family to go home to,” Wixom said.
He is planning for 200 people to show up tonight between 6 and 8 p.m. for the feast which will include 10 turkeys.
Wixom leads a committee of 16 who will work in three separate kitchens to prepare the meal.
He said the dinner fits nicely into the role of the missionary committee.
“Our job as the missionary committee is to promote the institute as a place for anyone,” Wixom said.
The money for the event, which is the largest that the committee will host this year, came from the Institute Council budget, with the support of Costco.