America’s Thanksgiving tradition of charity and peace

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Thanksgiving brings families together and gives us wonderful memories. Turkey is on the menu in most homes that celebrate the holiday. But actually, the first Thanksgiving held by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag in 1621 likely had no turkey at all. And no mashed potatoes either. Duck, deer, seafood and cornmeal are believed to be the main dishes at that famous Thanksgiving debut in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

While today’s Thanksgiving is known for parades, football, and shopping the original intent was far different. President Abraham Lincoln believed Thanksgiving should be a day of praying for peace and caring for war victims.

Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation of October, 1863 during the Civil War sought to unite the country and build peace. The writer Sarah Josepha Hale had written Lincoln encouraging him to make Thanksgiving a regular national holiday. Hale’s letters made a difference.

“The observance having spread from State to State this year, for the first time, takes its place among the institutions of the nation” stated an 1863 Thanksgiving editorial in the Hartford Courant. Thanksgiving was here to stay in America.

Turkey was part of the Thanksgiving in 1863. A Chicago Tribune article titled “The Soldiers Thanksgiving Dinner” told of the joy of those getting turkey and chicken at Camp Douglas, The United States General Hospital and the Marine Hospital.

Following Lincoln’s proclamation of caring for those wounded by war, the first national Thanksgiving holiday was a success. Charity has become an important part of the Thanksgiving tradition, helping those most in need.

Lincoln’s idea of Thanksgiving for Charity and Peace is something we should always make a part of the holiday. Charity at home and overseas is America’s Thanksgiving story.

At Thanksgiving in 1947 about 10,000 orphans in Europe each got a big surprise: a food package from America. The New York Times reported about this Thanksgiving in Europe because of donations from Americans. This generosity was part of the “Silent Guest” plan where families donated at the holidays to send CARE food packages to Europe.This was just two years after World War II when Europe was reeling in hunger.

Imagine the joy for one thousand orphans at the Central Children’s Home in Vienna, Austria who were among those who received the Thanksgiving food packages. More Thanksgiving packages were given to kids in Austria who had been stricken with polio. This generosity offered these kids a bit of hope when they had suffered so much because of the war. Food donations from America saved lives and built peace after the war.

Thanksgiving today offers us a chance to help those suffering during this holiday season. You can donate to foodbanks feeding hurricane victims in North Carolina, Florida and other areas. Overseas there are starving war victims in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti, Burkina Faso, Yemen and other nations that desperately need our help.

You can donate to charities like Save the Children, CARE, Mary’s Meals, Catholic Relief Services, Edesia, Mercy Corps and many others. UNICEF has an appeal to provide food to malnourished infants as supplies are running low.

The UN World Food Program (WFP) needs our support as it tries to feed millions of starving people in war-torn Gaza and Sudan. These two areas are near famine levels of hunger. The WFP also provides aid in lesser known conflict areas like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where over 23 million people face severe hunger. But the WFP needs more resources to feed all the war victims.

There are many nations that need Thanksgiving food and peace. We can do something great to help them by donating and making charity a part of our holiday.

William Lambers is an author who partnered with the UN World Food Program on the book Ending World Hunger.

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