Kirk Douglas is 92 years old, and still shows the effects of the debilitating stroke he suffered more than a decade ago. Still, today he was where he usually is on the day before Thanksgiving: serving up a full turkey dinner with all the trimmings to thousands of homeless and hungry folks at the Los Angeles Mission.
Douglas and his wife, Anne, have hosted the event for the last five years, and other celebs always show up to help: this year's servers included "Star Trek" and "Avatar" star Zoe Saldana, "High School Musical"'s Corbin Bleu, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr., along with local politicians and other volunteers. Last year, the street dinner served more than 3,000 people, and this year's crowd figured to be even bigger. The recession has delivered a double whammy to food banks and pantries: demand is higher than ever, with some people who used to donate now looking for donations themselves, and businesses battling to stay afloat are cutting their usual contributions down, or out.
It's been two months since we began this little "Find The Good" experiment, to see whether people cared about the positive things celebrities did, in addition to whom they slept with and what they wore. And the response has been heartening, with some commenters saying they've been inspired to increase their own charitable efforts. To me, that's the best possible result of celebrity philanthropy, and reason enough to keep reporting this kind of good news whenever possible.
When I carve our turkey tomorrow, I'll be thankful for many things, including celebrities who set good examples – and for everyone who's read these posts, commented on them, and made giving back part of their lives. May all of us know the joy of helping others at Thanksgiving, and throughout the year.