She might have lived most of the year in a fairytale, getting to marry a prince, but Meghan Markle's shown toward the back end of 2018 that no matter how big of a household name she becomes, she's never forgotten the little guy. Of course, in her adopted home of the United Kingdom, Thanksgiving is far from a tradition, but she celebrated the holiday anyway, carrying out acts of kindness that any American would be proud of.
38-year-old Markle, who's currently pregnant with her husband Prince Harry's baby, visited a homeless shelter out in Kensington Palace, and cooked meals for the people living there. The Hubb Community Kitchen was initially founded by women affected by the Grenfell Tower, which killed 71 people last year, and Meghan's first charity event was Together: Our Community Cookbook, which has already raised £210,000 for victims of the fire.
"I immediately felt connected to this community kitchen; it is a place for women to laugh, grieve, cry and cook together," Meghan Markle said in the foreword of her cookbook.
"Melding cultural identities under a shared roof, it creates a space to feel a sense of normalcy - in its simplest form, the universal need to connect, nurture and commune through food, through crisis or joy - something we can all relate to. Through this charitable endeavour, the proceeds will allow the kitchen to thrive and keep the global spirit of community alive."
This Thanksgiving, Meghan Markle took the recipes in the cookbook and brought them to life for the residents of the kitchen. On Wednesday morning, Meghan took to the Hubb Community Kitchen and put on an apron, helping to prepare Middle Eastern foods like the Egyptian dish lamb fattah, as well as Persian chicken and barberry rice.
She also took the time to greet kitchen co-ordinator Zaheera Sufyaan and Abdurahman Sayed, chief executive of the Al Manaar Muslim Cultural Centre in North Kensington, and in an emotional exchange, expressed her utter delight at what the Hubb Community Kitchen had been able to achieve in just a short period of time.
"It starts from one idea and from this one idea starts so much. I'm so proud of you," she said to the gathered women at the kitchen, and professional chefs were introduced to help feed local groups like homeless shelters, elderly homes and women's refuges.
"Every community needs something like this. If we could all do something together, we could solve the world's problems," Clare Smyth, one of the chefs introduced, said. She also waxed lyrical about the cooking skills of the group, adding: "They definitely don't need my help but if there is anything I can do to help them, I will."
"It's Thanksgiving tomorrow so it's the same thing about sharing," Meghan Markle explained to everyone present at the Hubb Community Kitchen yesterday. Although Thanksgiving isn't a holiday celebrated in the UK, let's all try and emulate Meghan Markle's kindness over this holiday season.
