Thanksgiving angels of Los Angeles - 29th November 2023

Some 55.4 million Americans made the journey home to mark their nation's Thanksgiving holidays with family and friends. Nevertheless, charities and organisations across the country came out in force to serve up hot holiday meals to the less fortunate.

One such organisation is the Los Angeles Mission with which Micky Giblin has been celebrating the holidays for years.

Micky Giblin: "This is my 21st holiday meal with them. So I've been here for 10 years, Thanksgiving and Christmas. So yeah, I'm starting year 11, my 21st visit."

With inflation driving food prices in the USA up 10.5 percent over the past year and homelessness rocketing by 80 percent since 2015, the support from third sector groups has been stretched ever thinner.

With tent cities across the country evidencing the levels of destitution hitting US society, Mayor Karen Bass is working on a solution.

Karen Bass: "We've been housing people and getting them off the streets immediately. However, there are 46,000 people on the street so it takes a while but we were able to get 18,000 housed this year. More to come next year."

It's the first step in a programme aimed at getting people back on their feet with housing, and subsequently on the road to securing employment.

LA Mission President Troy Vaughn is proud to be serving the charity which helped him turn his life around.

Troy Vaughn: "I ate in the Los Angeles Mission a lot of times during the holidays. So ironic, I'm now full circle, actually serving the meals where I got served, providing beds where I once slept, and so it's pretty amazing actually."

Despite the holiday's observance and its origins being called into question, the LA Mission's 1,500 guests this Thanksgiving were warmly celebrating the charity's generosity - appreciating a hearty feast and some care and companionship. Not only is Carlos Schmidt grateful for the traditional Thanksgiving turkey but also for the day's company and entertainment.

Carlos Schmidt: "Everybody's coming together and they're putting their resources together and they're showing love to people. Especially me, Thanksgiving usually I spend by myself but I'm here, good music playing. Everybody's smiling and enjoying themselves, having a good time."