Activists, groups gather to give back on Thanksgiving unlike any other

BySonia Rincon WABC logo

Friday, November 27, 2020

Activists gather to give back in Thanksgiving unlike any other

On Thursday there was an outpouring of giving back - and helping people who are hungry.

TRIBECA, Manhattan (WABC) -- Thanksgiving 2020 was a Thanksgiving unlike any other.

It is also different because the pandemic has sparked a wave of unemployment and poverty that has not been seen since the Great Depression.

On Thursday there was an outpouring of giving back - and helping people who are hungry.

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Volunteers tried to make the holiday special for homeless men being housed in hotels in Manhattan.

A singer performed 'Mad World' - a song that could describe 2020, for a group that has gathered every week to send the message that Black Trans Lives Matter.

"Black trans people are literally pushed into the margins every day - we create our own family," said event organizer Queen Jean.

This Thanksgiving, this family donated food and clothing, helping out those in the community most in need in a tumultuous year that brought them together through protest.

"And now we're here on a major holiday serving food to each other, bringing food, sharing things - helping each other get to the next day," said volunteer Lisa Kelly.

The activists who gathered Thursday night were not just enjoying each other's food and friendship. They could enjoy each other's artwork. Just a couple of blocks away, a pop-up art gallery opened, showing art inspired by the Black Lives Matter protests.

The exhibit is called 'The Art of Abolition' and it is only up through the weekend. The work of talented Black artists will be auctioned off, documenting the fight in 2020 against racial injustice and police brutality during a pandemic.

It is a year that left many people in need this Thanksgiving.

"For New Yorkers without a home, this has been a very tough year - a lot of disruption, lost employment," said Bowery Mission CEO James Winans.

The Bowery Mission has been serving Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless for 140 years. This was the first year it has ever been done outside.

City Meals on Wheels delivered turkey dinners around the city, some of them for people who had to be alone because of the pandemic.

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