In the months following this summer’s influx of Afghan refugees to the D.C. area – and as resettlement agencies deal with limited resources – local businesses have stepped up to provide aid. This Thanksgiving, restaurants such as Lapis in Adams Morgan are sharing both home-cooked meals, and new traditions.

As an Afghan refugee herself, owner Fatima Popal says it’s their way of giving to members of their own community in need. “The feeling is amazing to know that we are able to help them,” Popal says, whose family came to the U.S. in 1987. “When we came here, we didn’t have anyone. We didn’t have the guidance. We didn’t have the donations and the help and the support.”

When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August, the Popal family felt compelled to support the thousands of refugees making their way to military bases in Virginia.

“It was quite tragic for all of us to see what was happening in our homeland,” says Fatima Popal. “I spent every single day crying my eyes out and I said to myself, ‘I can’t just sit here and do nothing.’”

They started by raising donations for basic necessities like clothing, blankets, and personal hygiene products. Since then, Popal has been working double-time to fill in the gaps for resettlement agencies by paying for travel expenses and furniture. She says she gets calls and texts almost every week from families asking for help, which she’s mostly assisted on her own time.

This week, Fatima and her mother, Shamim Popal, prepared Thanksgiving meals for families in Woodbridge and Alexandria. As a family that was once unfamiliar with the American holiday of Thanksgiving themselves, they are grateful to be able to share some of the significance behind it.

“When we came here in 1987, we didn’t know much about Thanksgiving,” says Shamim Popal. “It’s a great tradition, thanking God for what he’s given us. So that’s why I like it.”

Like some other Americans, turkey is not Shamim’s favorite. But she’s no stranger to “Afghanizing” the meal. By marinating the halal turkey in traditional Afghan ingredients– garlic, ginger, turmeric, coriander, olive oil– she hopes it will inspire memories of home. It’s also served with naan, cranberry chutney sauce, and kabli pulao, a traditional rice dish.

“We need spices. We need flavors. We need a little bit of a mixture. So we are actually doing a little bit more of the Afghan food for the Thanksgiving,” says Fatima Popal.

Being able to help Afghan families in need is what motivates Shamim on a particular symbolic holiday for immigrants.

“It’s my pleasure to do this and to see how happy they will be,” says Shamim Popal. “It doesn’t matter if it’s Afghan, American, African, or from any other country. We love to help them here.”

Lapis is not alone. Businesses like Foodhini, a food delivery company in Woodridge, are also partnering with resettlement agencies like the International Rescue Committee to provide refugees with home-cooked meals. Noobtsaa Vang, whose parents fled Northern Laos during the Vietnam War, says it’s one way that his business can make a difference.

“This is a reminder of why we exist,” says Vang. “We’re not equipped to do everything, but what we know we can do is we can give them a taste of home.”

Vang says he’s been working alongside his chef, Zainab, who came to the U.S. from Afghanistan in 2019 on a special immigrant Visa. Together, they’ve given nearly 1,000 meals since September and plan to continue.

According to Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, President and CEO of the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, the DC region is one of the top three U.S. locations where Afghan refugees are seeking resettlement. She says it’s been challenging for her organization.

“It’s been a herculean task of rebuilding a resettlement infrastructure that had been decimated over the four years of the prior administration,” says Vignarajah.

Despite the obstacles, Vignarajah is eager to welcome, and lend a helping hand, to refugees this Thanksgiving. She says the organization plans to deliver meals to families living in temporary housing in Virginia. They’re also partnering with the Islamic Community Center of Potomac to hold a Thanksgiving potluck.

“Thanksgiving honors the practice of treating strangers with generosity, charity, and humanity. So it’s a very special occasion and a way to commemorate the effort that’s been undertaken in the last couple of months, and we’ll continue in the weeks and frankly, years ahead,” says Vignarajah.

For now, Fatima Popal says she hopes that more people will pay close attention to what’s happening in Afghanistan for the sake of those that were left behind.

“We cannot shy away and look away from what’s happening in Afghanistan right now, and the humanitarian crisis that’s happening.”