Turkey Giveaway Brightens the Holidays in South LA
Mayor Villaraigosa kissed babies, shook hands, and handed out turkeys Tuesday to people in South Los Angeles.
"They're making Thanksgiving joyous for thousands of families. If it wasn't for them, we'd probably be at home just sitting back with no festivities," Willy Randal, one of the people who received turkeys said.
Tuesday was the thirtieth annual Thanksgiving giveaway sponsored by Jackson Limousine. The Mayor said this is part of his larger plan for the economy.
"Make poverty a priority in terms of combating it, reduce it by half in ten years. That's what we got to do," Villaraigosa said.
Another politician and special volunteer predicted that the turnout will surpass last year's record-breaking handout of 10,000 turkey dinners,
"I heard they've been here since last night, they were waiting on the sidewalk. They've been sitting in chairs, some people laying on the sidewalk. But we're going to be able to feed everybody I'm told. Maxine Waters said.
"Some people that may be mentally ill, some people that may be developmentally challenged, you've got a lot of seniors this year, a lot of parents that come with young children and a stroller so it just makes it a lot more cumbersome," Pamela Wiley said.
Jackson Limousine said they haven't had any issues with crowd control so far and the giveaway will continue all Tuesday night until they run out of turkeys.
