KU News Release

LAWRENCE — International Student and Scholar Services at the University of Kansas is looking for host families to help international students experience Thanksgiving.

For 55 years, the office has sponsored the Betty Grimwood Thanksgiving Homestay Program, which provides international students the opportunity to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with an American family.

Last year, 35 students participated in the program. Currently, 25 students and nine families have registered to participate, and more families are needed.

The program needs families to volunteer to host one or more students either for Thanksgiving Day only or throughout the Thanksgiving break period, which runs from Wednesday, Nov. 25, to Sunday, Nov. 29.

Interested families can register by contacting Ece (pronounced A-J) Gurler, program coordinator, at (785) 864-3617 or isssprograms@ku.edu. The registration deadline is Nov. 18. Students will be responsible for their own transportation.

“I would like to thank you in advance for your generosity and kindness and look forward to a memorable Thanksgiving for both your family and our students, “ Gurler said.

The Thanksgiving homestay tradition at KU began in 1954 with a request from women, including Betty Grimwood, at the United Methodist Church in 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 practice had become a KU tradition, gained national recognition and spread to other Kansas communities.