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Angelenos Come Together To Stock Union Station Homeless Services With 450 Turkeys

A man wearing a black apron and black face mask stands in the middle of a commercial kitchen. He poses for the camera with his hands behind his back as several people work at a large food-prep table behind him.
Diego Feliciano, executive chef for Centerplate, stands in front of a team of volunteers who cooked and carved 200 turkeys for the Union Station Homeless Services Adult Center in 2021.
(
Ethan Ward
/
LAist
)

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Angelenos carved right through a 443-turkey deficit in a pair of weeks.

Each year, the Union Station Homeless Services collect Thanksgiving meals for community members. Just two weeks ago, the Pasadena non-profit had only seven of their 450-bird goal, but the community rallied to make sure the center was thoroughly stocked and stuffed with turkeys.

"We just got lots of turkeys for today; enough to give away on Monday,” said Union Station Homeless Services spokesperson Ann Miskey on Thursday. ”In fact, we had so many turkeys that we were able to help some food banks who didn't have any.”

And hands were on hand for the holiday. Senator Alex Padilla and his 7-year-old son Diego joined to help with dishing out the feasts.

“I'm putting corn casseroles, red mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and turkey,” Padilla said.

The gobble goal was also hit with the help of Gale's Restaurant in Pasadena and the Kardashian-Jenner families, as they also donated pies and dinner rolls to the non-profit.

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