First Thanksgiving meal for Ukranian refugees in LA is filled with gratitude
Before moving to Los Angles in April, Nataliya Mikhnova had heard about Thanksgiving mostly from movies.
They finally decided to move to the U.S. after finding a family in Los Angeles who offered to host them in their home for the first two months. It took the family about six days to travel to Tijuana in mid-April, then cross the border on foot to San Diego. “When we ran from the war, many women feel like they are refugees and often think: ‘I’m going to be quiet and hide’ because they don’t understand how things work here,” she said. “But I decided to do the opposite and be proactive.”
Olga Baker with her husband Justin Baker and 4-year-old daughter Mila Baker on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. Since she moved from Kyiv in 2015, Olga Baker has always stayed in touch with the Ukrainian diaspora, but this year when the missiles began hitting Ukrainian cities, she began volunteering for different organizations, sending medication and other aid to Ukraine and helpijng newly arrived refugees.
Still, Baker said she was certain her table wouldn’t lack a Ukrainian dish because “Ukrainians never show up empty-handed.”“Thanksgiving doesn’t exist in Ukraine and if you think about it, the nature of the holiday is somebody being in need and somebody else giving their hand. It can speak to anyone’s heart,” she said.
When the war in Ukraine broke out her husband Alexander couldn’t sleep for days at their home in Los Angeles. When he finally told Dina Grymak that he had decided to move back to Ukraine to defend it, she didn’t try to stop him.
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