"We're going to be giving out over 60 turkeys today," said Jimmy White of the Travis Manion Foundation, who set up a tent and a couple of tables, laden with turkeys, sides and snack cakes on the east side of City Hall.
Even though there had been scant notice this was coming, he didn't have to wait long at all for people to figure out it was there.
"I was on my way to my doctor's appointment and I was like, let me stop," said one passerby.
"We don't need the turkey, we just want the cake," said another.
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White and the city's Veterans Affairs Office posted the event on social media just hours before, which is what drew Jocelyn.
"It's the Thanksgiving holiday, it's nice that somebody wants to give back to us and I'm very grateful," she said.
For Charlene, it was just a happy coincidence.
"I was standing over there panhandling to get some food, but they were giving out some food. God is good. You should never go hungry in the city of Philadelphia cause they feed us every day," Charlene said.