More than 1,000 lbs of turkey served during Pine Street Inn’s Thanksgiving Day Tradition

BOSTON — The scent of freshly cooked turkeys filled the air of Boston’s Pine Street Inn on Thursday.

The organization’s kitchen staff and volunteers spent about a week preparing thousands of pounds of Thanksgiving dishes.

“It’s amazing to see during the holidays everybody rolling up their sleeves, taking care of their neighbors, as one big family in the city,” said Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.

As part of the tradition, Wu was assigned to turkey carving duties.

This year, she was joined by U.S. Senator Ed Markey, State Representative Aaron Michlewitz, Boston City Councilor John Fitzgerald, and Boston Bruins Defensemen Charlie McAvoy.

When asked if there were transferable skills between being a hockey defenseman and carving a turkey: “Not much. Maybe soft hands, I guess,” laughed Charlie McAvoy. “They say that’s something good to have for stick handling.”

McAvoy also received some help in the kitchen from teammates Johnny Beecher and Mason Lohrei. They helped distribute 50 pies to Pine Street Inn, and 400 total to worthy causes around the city.

“This is a day that makes the corner of everyone’s mouths turn upwards, explained Markey.

And it’s the feeling of happiness that carries over to people like Myra Dejesus, who sought help from the Pine Street Inn in 2022.

“I’m thankful for being here for one… having a place to lay my head. I’m also thankful that pine street is like my second family, Dejesus explained.

Once Thanksgiving is over, Myra is hopeful that she will be able to move into one of Pine Street Inn’s 39 permanent housing locations, and 1,100 units in the Greater Boston area.

In their ongoing efforts to make permanent housing attainable for everyone, the pine street inn has secured 140 units on Washington street in Jamaica Plain.

They hope to have all of the units occupied by the middle of next year.

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