KU News Release

KU seeks a few more families for Betty Grimwood Thanksgiving Homestay

LAWRENCE — The number of international students at the University of Kansas who wish to participate in the Betty Grimwood Thanksgiving Homestay Program and the number of families who can host students for a full weekend don’t quite match — yet.

Melissa Marie Rogers, program coordinator for KU’s International Student and Scholar Services offices, isn’t worried.

“We need about five more families who can be hosts for a full weekend, but we do have enough families wishing to share Thanksgiving Day so that all international students who have applied can experience the holiday with a host family.”

KU will accept applications through Nov. 8. Interested families may call Rogers at (785) 864-3617 or e-mail her at isssprograms@ku.edu.

Of the 30 international students who have asked to participate, about 18 would like to spend for the full Thanksgiving break — Tuesday, Nov. 20, to Sunday, Nov. 25 — with a host family.

In turn, 17 families have volunteered to be Thanksgiving hosts. Seven of the families wish to participate for the full holiday break. One Lawrence couple has requested as many as 10 students to join them for Thanksgiving dinner.

Families from Baldwin City, Burns, Gardner, Lawrence, Leawood, Marion, Olathe, Overland Park and Topeka have asked to participate this year.

KU has more than 1,600 international students. The program is open to all international students with preference for those who have not previously participated.

The Thanksgiving homestay tradition at KU began in 1954 with a request from women, including Betty Grimwood, in the United Methodist Church at Burns, a farm community in Marion County northeast of Wichita. They organized the Burns community of fewer than 300 residents to share the American holiday with international students. By 1959, the Burns community Thanksgiving idea had become a KU tradition, gained national recognition and spread to other Kansas communities.

Vice President Richard Nixon recognized Burns as “the smallest U.S. community with the biggest foreign diplomatic service in the world.” Grimwood and her husband are no longer living, but one of their sons, Tom, and his wife, Nedy, continue the tradition in Burns. They will share their holiday with a KU international student this Thanksgiving.

Rogers is a Lawrence senior majoring in environmental studies and Latin American studies and a Lawrence Free State High School graduate.

-30-

The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.