Thousands Of Meals Provided To Those In Need Across Southland In A Thanksgiving Like No Other
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Thousands of people in need across the Southland were receiving Thanksgiving Day meals Thursday, although the annual traditions were taking a different form because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Laugh Factory in Hollywood was hosting its 40th annual free Thanksgiving Dinner from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. outside the club rather than inside, with all meals packaged to go.
Tiffany Haddish, Dane Cook and Tim Allen are among the comedians scheduled to participate.
"We received an overwhelming number of inquiries about how we would proceed due to COVID-19, and after consulting with our city officials, our team and comedians, we came to the conclusion that spending the holiday alone is no laughing matter and so we all decided to move forward with this yearly tradition," Laugh Factory founder and CEO Jamie Masada said.
The Midnight Mission in downtown L.A. is not holding its traditional Thanksgiving brunch, where last year, nearly 2,500 homeless and near-homeless men, women and children were fed, according to Georgia Berkovich, its director of public affairs.
Instead, it will be serving three meals on Thursday as it does every day. The Midnight Mission serves thousands of "take-out" meals each day, Berkovich said.
The 23rd annual Gobble Gobble Give event was taking place between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Blessed Sacrament Church on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. The drive-thru event, cohosted by the Hollywood Food Coalition, was handing out meals in a drive-thru format, with volunteers placing food in the trucks of cars. Volunteers were also delivering food and supplies to those in need.
Approximately 28,000 people were expected to receive meals outside the Honda Center in Anaheim for the 34th annual We Give Thanks event put on by the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County and several other groups.
This year the hot meals were being provided in a drive-thru format between 9 a.m. and noon. 1,300 turkeys, 7,000 pies, 13,000 pounds of potatoes and 175,000 pounds of boxed food were being given out.
The Rose Bowl Turkey Trot in Pasadena was being held on a virtual basis through 8 p.m. Friday night with all registered participants running or walking at a place of their own choosing and use the Race Joy app to track their official time and automatically send in their finish time.
Organizers highly encouraged participants to complete the route around the 5-kilometer Rose Bowl Loop recreational path surrounding the Rose Bowl Stadium and Brookside Golf course.
All entry fees will go directly to the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation's America's Stadium Needs America Campaign.
The Biddy Mason Charitable Foundation will be feeding more than 400 people impacted by the foster care system as its annual Thanksgiving Day Dinner which will be shifted to a "Grab 'n' Go" format at the First AME Church of Los Angeles.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
