President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will help serve part of a “Friendsgiving” meal to service members and families at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in North Carolina.
The Bidens will meet with service members and families from MCAS Cherry Point, Camp Lejeune, and Marine Corps Air Station New River on Monday, Nov. 21, during a meal hosted by the Robert Irvine Foundation, according to the White House.
The president and first lady will help serve part of the meal prepared by Irvine, a celebrity chef and restauranteur. Details about the menu were not available by publication time.
Friendsgiving is a blend of friend and Thanksgiving, and refers to a large meal eaten with friends either on or near Thanksgiving, according to Merriam-Webster.
“People are serious about their Friendsgiving celebrations: there are how-tos, sample menus, rules, and even commandments for Friendsgiving,” according to the online dictionary. “When Friendsgiving first came into use, it was used to describe something much more informal than the traditional Thanksgiving meal.”
The visit is part of the first lady’s initiative to support military families known as ”Joining Forces.” She has focused on military children and spouses, veterans, caregivers and survivors.
The Bidens helped serve a Friendsgiving meal in November 2021 at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
