KU News Release

KU seeks hosts families for 2008 Thanksgiving homestay program

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas is seeking area families to serve as hosts for international students interested in experiencing in the uniquely American holiday: Thanksgiving.

Coordinated through KU’s International Student and Scholar Services, the Betty Grimwood Thanksgiving Homestay Program annually matches about 30 international students with area families who wish to share their holiday traditions.

Host families should register by Friday, Nov. 14, with Nick Arthachinda, who is coordinating the annual event for International Student and Scholar Services. Contact Arthachinda at (785) 864-3617 or isssprograms@ku.edu.

Families are needed for one or more international students either for the full Thanksgiving break — Tuesday, Nov. 25, to Sunday, Nov. 30 — or for Thanksgiving Day only — Thursday, Nov. 27. Last year, 18 families from communities in Kansas and Missouri were host to 35 international students.

The success of the program depends upon host families who extend hospitality to students from other lands, Arthachinda said.

“These students do not expect to be entertained constantly throughout the holiday,” he said. “They simply want to view and experience how Americans celebrate Thanksgiving and everyday life. Many may even bring homework and may need some private time to study.”

In recent years, host families from nearly 50 communities in Kansas and Missouri have participated. Those communities included Baldwin City, Basehor, Burlington, Chanute, De Soto, Eudora, Eureka, Garnett, Girard, Herington, Kansas City, Lawrence, Leavenworth, Leawood, Lecompton, Lenexa, Linwood, Madison, Marion, Merriam, Newton, Olathe, Overbrook, Overland Park, Peabody, Prairie Village, Roeland Park, Sedgwick, Shawnee, Silver Lake, Tonganoxie, Topeka, Valley Falls, Westwood, Whitewater and Wichita in Kansas; and Drexel, El Dorado Springs, Florissant, Gladstone, Grandview, Hardin, Independence and St. Louis in Missouri.

International students arrange their own transportation.

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 encouraged the Burns community, which has fewer than 300 residents, to share their 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.

The Grimwoods are no longer living, but some residents of Burns continue to participate in the program. The program was named in Betty Grimwood’s honor in 1999.

More than 1,700 international students, representing 111 countries, enrolled at KU this fall. Preference for the homestay program is given to international students who are new to the United States.

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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.