A 2020 Thanksgiving Story

Every year my family and I give out Thanksgiving turkeys to those in need. We started doing this in a spur-of-the-moment decision seven years ago and haven’t looked back. That first year we fed about 75 people. Since then, we’ve fed over 12,000. But in 2020 the entire experience was very different.

Due to Covid we made adjustments for our event. Normally, its hosted inside a community center on the Upper West Side in New York City. This year, we moved it to outside the center, required masks and social distancing. In previous years we’ve distributed turkeys to those with disabilities and in more recent times, we delivered those who were afraid my event would be raided by ICE Agents. Yes, people lived with such fear of deportation, that picking up a Thanksgiving turkey could turn into a one-way ticket out of America.

Normally it takes us about 5–7 hours to give out the Thanksgiving turkeys. We work with the local Head Start program, several homeless shelters and other neighborhood non-profits to get the word out about our event. This year, the turkeys were gone in 37 minutes.

I had been prepared to deal with the health challenges posed Covid. I wasn’t prepared to address its economic consequences. I arrived at 9AM, like usual, for the event (which always takes place on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to give people time to thaw and cook the turkeys). That’s when I saw something new. A line. People arrived around dawn get in line to receive a turkey. It was about 43 degrees and the sky was gun-metal grey. Nothing…