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Celebs dish out Thanksgiving food to homeless on LA’s Skid Row

STORY: :: Celebrities serve Thanksgiving meals to the homeless in Downtown Los Angeles:: Los Angeles, California:: November 27, 2024:: Erik Grant, Executive Chef, Los Angeles Mission”Well, for me it’s a double-edged sword. At one point in time, I actually found myself homeless. And so for me, it’s very personal. I really want to give back to the community, give back to the society, because really, this can happen to any of us.”:: Jeffrey Katzenberg, Hollywood Producer”It fills your heart for happiness. We’re going to make people’s lives a teeny bit brighter today, but also reminds you of how many people are in need. And you can see it here on the streets. Heartbreaking.”:: Alexander James Rodriguez, Actor and Singer”Giving food to someone and seeing a smile on their face is always something that makes you feel like you’re making a difference, even if it’s small, it’s still a difference. And, you know, together as a community, everyone over here is actually making a massive difference in our community in Los Angeles.”The Los Angeles Mission is at the heart of Skid Row and provides residents there with food, clothing and care to those in need.Erik Grant, the executive chef at the Los Angeles Mission, who was once homeless himself, explained how much food had to be created to pull off this feat.”The expectancy is between 1,500 and 4,000 and so I’ve prepared 180 gallons of gravy, 3,600 pounds of turkey, 1,000 pounds of macaroni, 1,000 pounds of Collard greens and 1,000 pounds of stuffing,” he said.Well-known faces including Hollywood producer Jeffrey Katzenberg, actors Joe Manganiello, Alexander James Rodriguez and Cedric Yarbrough, TV host Nick Cannon and politician Maxine Waters were either serving the homeless or dishing out the food to give to the servers.”It’s just important,” said make-up influencer James Charles. He added “I really feel like Thanksgiving is such a beautiful holiday and so many people, you know, have the privilege of being able to celebrate it with their friends and family and have a great meal on the table. Not everyone is so lucky and I feel like it only takes a couple of hours of volunteer time and be able to really get back to those that deserve it because we all deserve to have an incredible holiday season.”Waters said “This is something special that I will never, ever forget. I will be here every year because the people who are being fed here are people who are so appreciative about everything that the mission is doing. They will have a happy Thanksgiving. The families will be here with their children. And I feel very good serving them and saying Happy Thanksgiving to them.”