Eagle Era

Behind the scenes of Youth Alive’s annual Friendsgiving event

By Angella Li

Cozy fireplaces, toasty, cinnamon-scented air, a warm mug of apple cider, and—best of all—Thanksgiving Break right around the corner. As break approached, so did Friendsgiving, an annual event hosted by the Youth Alive club at AHS, aiming to build a community that could experience Thanksgiving together with friends.

“We hope to have a time of fellowship among Christians and also for nonbelievers to come and hear about what we believe in for Thanksgiving,” said Benita Arun (12), the president of Youth Alive. “We believe that Thanksgiving is more than just giving things. We’re giving thanks to God for everything that He has given us and for the community that we have. I really hope to introduce that to nonbelievers who may come to see their friends or for the food, and also to have a community for believers themselves to experience Thanksgiving by worshiping Christ.”

Friendsgiving includes many activities, from feasts of turkey—or more specifically, its younger cousin, the chicken—to sermons on various topics. “I don’t know where it started, but ever since I first came into American, it’s been a yearly tradition to have turkey, mashed potatoes, and a guest speaker come and speak to us,” Arun said. “The pastor who mentors us comes and gives us a message that day. This year’s [sermon] is about gratitude and contentment.”

Naturally, a large event like this takes time and planning on the part of the Youth Alive executives. “We have to have a really long meeting to discuss. ‘What food are we going to have?How are we going to pick up the food?’ And we have to get guest passes for the guest speaker and then discuss with the guest speaker how it’s going to work,” said Arun. “We tell them we want it to be centered on Thanksgiving, and then they will curate their message.”

Thomas Lin (12), the club secretary, said, “I have to email Mrs. Sharma and tell her that we’re going to invite him to speak. We also need our advisor, Ms. Lopez, to approve of this so that he can come on campus and be our speaker.”

Another challenge faced by the Youth Alive executive team is sourcing food and worship equipment. “We’ve been pretty reliant on donations from churches,” Timothy Lin (12), the Youth Alive club treasurer, said. “We’ve been trying to have some independence financially and pay them back for stuff, but it’s hard because of how much food costs.”

As a result, the club recently hosted its first club fundraiser on Thursday, November 26th, selling boba. These funds are used to benefit the club as a whole. Timothy said, “We’re working to get equipment for worship like microphones for singing or speaking.” 

Sama Khoury (11) prepared food at Friendsgiving before distributing it to attendees (Photo Credit: Angella Li (10)).

Many returning members have good memories from their experiences at Friendsgiving last year. “I feel like it was a good time to bond [with] new people, because back then I was a freshman, and I didn’t know anyone since I came from a private school,” said Janice Eom (10). “I really enjoyed the people there. They’re really nice and really energetic.”

On the flip side, the new school year welcomed many eager new students to the club who have never participated in Friendsgiving before. Bethany Tan (9) said, “I hope that we will have opportunities to discuss different things that we’re thankful for. I’ve realized that there are a lot of things that we take for granted. Through conversations, we can be more thankful and joyful for the things that we have.”

The season of giving is a critical time for gratitude and togetherness. Eom said, “I feel like this is something that Youth Alive does to bring everybody in—regardless of whether you believe in Christianity or don’t know anything about it, it’s just a time when you can learn more and eat well.”