Early Thanksgiving meal — and food to take home — served up in Long Beach

Residents streamed into the Martin Luther King Community Center in Long Beach on Sunday afternoon for a hot Thanksgiving meal, plus food to take home for the holiday.

"Saturday Night Live" star Kenan Thompson donated 100 frozen turkeys for the event, said Justin Mosley, whose gym, Athlete Protocol, sponsored the event.

"This holiday, I think, sometimes gets misunderstood. It's just sit down and you eat," Mosley, 28, of Long Beach, said in an interview Sunday. "As opposed to being able to give back and help your community. We understand it's a scary world, but the best thing you can do is help your community."

There were about 250 people expected to attend the hot meal, said Sheena Curry, board chair of the community center. There also were bags of sides, including stuffing, yams and more, for residents to take home.

"Doing all of this for the community, it's a wonderful thing," Curry said. "It's definitely needed. The need is great."

Among those in attendance was Cecelia Falzone, 40, of Long Beach. Falzone brought two of her children, as well as her godchild. She said she was "happy" to be at the event Sunday.

"I get an early Thanksgiving, I get a free turkey for my family so we can eat on Thanksgiving," Falzone said. "I'm excited to eat with the community."

The Long Beach Patrolmen's Benevolent Association also donated turkeys alongside the Community-Police Relations Foundation.

Richard DePalma, Long Beach's acting police commissioner, was on hand, packing food into bags for residents. He said it was good for the community to see the police in a positive environment.

"A lot of times, when the police are called, it's not for a good event, it's for a tragedy. People call us on their worst day, not their best day," DePalma said. "It's important to get to events like this to get together with the community on a positive note, and a good occasion, to work on that relationship we have with the community."

This was the second year Mosley's company sponsored the event. He said he valued giving back to the community. Growing up, when his family moved from Far Rockaway, Queens, to Long Beach, their fortunes changed.

Now, he said, he takes pride in assisting those who are less fortunate.

"We knew what it was like to have a little," Mosley said. "There's nothing more fulfilling than being able to help people out."

By Joshua Needelman

joshua.needelman@newsday.com

Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.