Thanksgiving is not only about being with family, but also about giving back to the community.
For Santa Monica, California-based chef Ray Garcia, it’s about helping out the Los Angeles Mission give more than 4,000 meals to those in need for the holiday.
“It’s important. There’s a team here who does a great job feeding 1,200 people a day – breakfast, lunch and dinner – out of the mission,” Garcia told KTTV as he prepared for the feast, which took place Wednesday afternoon. “It’s great to be able to come out of the kitchen and help them feed everyone for Thanksgiving.”
This was the second year Garcia, who is the head chef at FIG in Santa Monica, was involved in preparing food for the Thanksgiving feast. Last year he did the carrots and this year it’s all about the cranberries.
“We are doing roasted cranberries and ginger relish,” he said. “A little bit of fresh orange and ginger spice it up and you get the pope from the cranberries.”
The Mission’s Thanksgiving dinner is a yearly event that also provides foot washing, new socks, blankets and free tarps to help families on the street survive the colder winter weather.
Along with Garcia, numerous celebrity chefs were on hand to prepare the meal. Celebrities like George Lopez, Miguel Nunez, Patricia Heaton and Tyga also helped out serving food.
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