On Saturday, November 23, 2024, Olga’s List held their annual Thanksgiving dinner for their Ukrainian clients and a larger community in the hall of Saint John’s Episcopal Church in Arlington. This event is a special opportunity for the local Ukrainian refugee community to celebrate their culture, share gratitude for the organization, and to gather all together for a hearty American Thanksgiving dinner. It is an open event in part funded by a grant from the MassCultural Council.
The volunteers of Olga’s list started arriving around 5:00pm to set up the event. Twelve community volunteers from Arlington were working at the event, and in the hour before guests arrived, the hall was prepared for the dinner. A couple dozen tables were laid out within the space to prepare for the expected attendance of over 100 clients, and were then topped with rolls, cranberry sauce, real fruits and gourds, and autumn leaves from outside. A space at the front of the hall was cleared for dancing, yellow and blue balloons were pinned up around the room, and a buffet which spanned most of the long side wall was set up for the feast.
The event officially started at 6:00pm, and by 6:30 almost every chair in the hall was filled. Olga’s list had organized a lineup of entertainment for the night: A pair of musicians, one on guitar and one on keyboard, played folk songs together. Later, a young man and woman performed a moving dance, dressed in the traditional outfits for the dance and accompanied by music. Olga Abakumova later joined forces with the guitarist in a soulful classical song. Later in the evening, Sophia Skichenko led a sing along of traditional Ukrainian songs, which everyone in the hall, including Sophia’s mother, joined in for. And all the while, refugees reunited with old friends, posed for group photos, and made new connections in what was a comfortable, familial, and joyous atmosphere. “It felt like being back home!” said Alena K, a single mother of a teenage daughter who arrived in 2022.
Olga was obligated to share some sobering news amidst the festivities. Because of the potential danger the incoming administration poses to immigrants and refugees in the US, she encouraged her clients to take copies of a “know your rights statement”-- a printed English/Ukrainian declaration of a person’s Fourth Amendment rights that can be brandished to an agent making an unwanted visit. This part of the evening was a demonstration of how important building community among Ukrainian refugees is– it not only allows for logistical and emotional support, but provides a structure for protecting one another in times of need.
The microphone, along with being used by the musicians and for announcements, was left open for anyone to come up and share their own stories and to give thanks. Rada Kogan, Board Member, shared a poignant reflection on what Thanksgiving meant to her. The holiday has its origins in the Pilgrims, who had come to the New World to flee persecution, sharing a feast with the native Wampanoag. Now, Ukrainians are coming together in the New World after fleeing a war and partaking with Americans in the same feast. The celebration comes full circle, and she is thankful to Olga’s list for making that possible.
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