Luz Ayala lifted up a frozen turkey wrapped in plastic and netting and talked through the culinary transformation that bird will go through next Thursday for Thanksgiving.

She’ll peel back the whole turkey’s skin and stuff it with a blended mix of green peppers, onions, olive oil, cilantro, and garlic. Then she’ll baste the bird in butter and pop it in the oven as she works on making a side of stuffing — also filled with meat, she said apologetically to this vegetarian reporter — for her visiting family members sitting down for dinner at her Columbus Avenue table.

She’s ready for that annual big cook. And, thanks to a bustling food pantry turkey giveaway in Wooster Square, she won’t have to worry about stretching her budget to buy the meal’s centerpiece.

Ayala was one of hundreds of New Haveners who showed up to the driveway behind St. Paul & St. James Episcopal Church at 57 Olive St. midday Friday to pick up a bag full of Thanksgiving meal ingredients from the local food pantry, Loaves & Fishes. That free food distribution before next Thursday’s holiday took place on the same day as a number of other giveaways, including ones hosted by the Elicker administration at senior centers across the city.

According to Loaves & Fishes Executive Director Lorrice Grance, the Wooster Square-based food pantry planned on giving out 700 turkeys on Friday, along with 140 chickens and hundreds of volunteer-packed brown paper bags of carrots, sweet potatoes, onions, string beans, and more, all sourced from Connecticut Foodshare.

“We found that we had an opportunity to give extra protein and veggies” to New Haveners in need this holiday season, Grand said about Friday’s holiday meal distribution, which she said will continue on Saturday.

Ayala was one of those New Haveners to show up to Friday’s giveaway to help her get ready for a full Thanksgiving meal with family next week.

“This is good,” she said. ​“It means food on the table” for her and her daughters and grandkids. 

Wayne Sims also swung by the Wooster Square church on Friday to pick up a free turkey and vegetables — though he’s pretty certain that he won’t be cooking or eating this food, but instead will likely give it away.

That’s because he doesn’t have access to a microwave or stove or kitchen, he said. He said he had been living with his elderly mom in West Haven, but had to leave when she passed away. He said he’s recently rented out two self-storage units in New Haven, and has been living out of that business’s men’s bathroom. He said he’s on the waitlist for subsidized apartments in West Haven and Naugatuck, and hopes that one of those housing applications comes through soon. 

He doesn’t know where he’ll be for Thanksgiving itself. He’s not confident he’ll be in a place where he can cook the food he picked up on Friday.

“Sometimes I put a smile on my face, even when I’m crying,” he said. After all, he said about his current sleeping arrangements, ​“it ain’t no fun being in the bathroom.”

See below for more recent Independent articles about homelessness, activism, and attempts to find shelter.

• Homelessness Update Uncovers Mental Health Toll
• NHPS: 567 Students & Counting Are Homeless
• Youth Shelter Planned, But Not For Hazel St.
• Mike P. Skips Polls, Heads To Scrapyard
• Tiny Homes Hit With 2nd Violation Notice
• City Tells Tiny Home Builders To Cease And Desist
• 6 Tiny Houses Built In Hill Backyard
• $3.5M Hotel-To-Homeless Shelter Contract OK’d
• Hotel-To-Homeless Shelter Contract Advances
• Hotel-To-Homeless Shelter Plan OK’d
• Memorial Uplifts Activist’s Fighting Spirit
• Tents Pop Up In 2 Candidate Debates
• Three Tents Pop Up On The Green
• Unhoused Activists Mourn One Of Their Own
• Homeless Activist Found Dead Outside Soup Kitchen
• Opinion: Don’t Sweep People Away
• Union Station Clears Out
• 50 New Homeless Shelter Beds Open In The Hill
• Tuesday In The State St. Triangle With David
• DESK Preps For Temp Relocation, Major Renovations
• Parking Chief: Homelessness At Union Station Is A Housing Problem
• Closing Time At Union Station
• City Housing Plight Brought To The​‘Burbs
• Tent City Exiles Re-Camp On Rosette
• Debate Q: The Lesson Of Tent City Was …
• Homeless Youth Housing Plan Revived
• 6 Crisis Beds OK’d For Winthrop Ave
• Non-Cop Crew Cruises To Crisis Calls
• Don’t Like Encampments? Fund Solutions
• Brennan Slams Elicker For​“Cruel” Tent City Sweep
• Why & How We Took Action At The Encampment
• DuBois-Walton: Tent City Reflects Broader Housing Crisis
• Tent City Bulldozed
• Tent City Campers Start To Clear Out
• ​“Tent City” Hit With New Move-Out Order
• ​“Tent City” Survives City Cleanup Order
• Competing Visions Emerge For Homelessness $
• Surprise Drop-Off Turns Bottle Man East
• State Lands $18M Homelessness Lifeline
• Tent Citizen By Choice Builds Community