定在每年11月第四个星期四的感恩节，也是对人们一年一度的提醒，促使大家对需要帮助的人伸出援手。对于许多美国人来说，这意味着志愿到布施食品的地方义务服务，或者向食品赈济设施捐赠。还有些人参加由当地企业或是自己的教会、犹太教堂、清真寺或寺庙举办的食品捐助活动。

奥巴马总统和他的家人也遵循着这一不断壮大的文化传统。自2008年以来，奥巴马夫妇每年都在感恩节这一天到首都华盛顿(Washington)地区的食品布施设施帮助置备节日餐饭，或是在市区的一个食品赈济处与其他志愿者一起分发食品。

奥巴马总统在2014年的感恩节公告中表示，为他人服务给美国全国各地社区增添力量，让受帮助的人和提供志愿服务的人双双受益。

他说，“在收容所和食品布施处，美国人把一个将我们紧密联系在一起的简单真理赋予了真正的涵义：我们是我们兄弟姐妹的守护者”。

正是这种团契精神在鼓舞着“全杜勒斯地区穆斯林协会”(All Dulles Area Muslim Society，英文缩写ADAMS)的义务工作者。该协会是华盛顿郊区最大的清真寺和穆斯林非营利组织之一。在感恩节及其他节假日期间，协会的志愿者在接纳无家可归人的收容所提供热腾腾的饭菜。他们还全年向有需要的人提供袋装午餐。

全杜勒斯地区穆斯林协会的跨信仰和外联主任法汉纳兹·埃利斯(Farhanahz Ellis)解释说，饭菜提供给任何人――不只是穆斯林。她说：“我们深信，需求不分宗教，不分性别，不分肤色。”

一些非营利组织通过赞助活动吸引新的志愿者和资源加入进来。在得克萨斯州的奥斯汀市(Austin)，“火鸡善行活动”(Operation Turkey)的志愿者在感恩节这一天为有需要的人烹制、包装餐饭，并将热腾腾的饭菜送到他们手中；他们通过每年举办高尔夫球赛，为其慈善事业筹集资金。

犹他食品赈济处(Utah Food Bank)是一家以盐湖城(Salt Lake City)为基地的非营利组织，致力于解决整个犹他州的饥饿问题。他们也有自己的年度筹款活动：从2005年以来在感恩节举行的“犹他州人情长跑赛”(Utah Human Race)。

这一赛事的座右铭是“怀着感恩之心赛跑”。该组织发言人海蒂·卡内拉(Heidi Cannella)说，它已经成为犹他州许多家庭的传统。“每年感恩节的早上，我们通常都会有大约6000人来参加长跑。”

卡内拉还提到，犹他州人情长跑赛还包含婴儿推车组，因此它面向所有年龄和不同体能的人。

犹他食品赈济处是美国最大的饥饿救援慈善组织“美国赈饥”(Feeding America)的一员。在2014年，犹他食物赈济处分发了3750万磅食品——相当于3100多万份餐饭。

卡内拉解释说，每个人都可以为战胜饥饿发挥作用。这就是为什么犹他食品赈济处欢迎大人和孩子都来参加。

12岁以下的学生可以参加装饰食品盒，送给那些足不出户和年长的客户；而“年龄更大的学生则可以参加我们所有的志愿活动和项目，包括装配食品盒，递送准备好的食品盒，分装整批捐赠的食品，或是根据需要参加任何其他项目。”

卡内拉说，在感恩节和全年期间施以援手可以让人产生极大的成就感，“每天亲眼看到来自我们社区源源不断的慷慨捐献，你会意识到[这份]工作是多么重要。”

Thanksgiving is a day when Americans gather with family and friends to celebrate and give thanks for life’s abundance. It’s also the start of their winter holiday season.

Observed on the fourth Thursday of November, Thanksgiving is an annual reminder to reach out to those in need, which for many Americans means volunteering at soup kitchens or donating to food banks. Some participate in food drives organized by local businesses or by their churches, synagogues, mosques or temples.

President Obama and his family are a part of this growing tradition. Since 2008, the Obamas have spent part of their Thanksgiving Day preparing holiday meals at Washington-area soup kitchens or distributing food at one of the city’s food banks, working alongside other volunteers.

In his 2014 Thanksgiving Day proclamation, the president said that service to others strengthens communities all across the United States, helping recipients and volunteers alike.

“At shelters and soup kitchens, Americans give meaning to the simple truth that binds us together: We are our brothers’ and our sisters’ keepers,” he said.

That spirit of fellowship animates volunteers at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS), one of the largest mosques and Muslim nonprofit organizations in the Washington suburbs. During Thanksgiving and other holidays, ADAMS volunteers serve hot meals at homeless shelters. They also deliver bag lunches to needy people all year long.

The meals are available to anyone — not just Muslims, explains Farhanahz Ellis, ADAMS’ interfaith and outreach director. “We believe that need has no religion, no gender, no color,” she says.

Some nonprofit groups sponsor activities that attract new volunteers and resources to their cause. In Austin, Texas, Operation Turkey — whose volunteers cook, pack and deliver hot meals to needy people at Thanksgiving — holds an annual golf tournament to raise money for its charitable mission.

Utah Food Bank, a Salt Lake City–based nonprofit that fights hunger throughout the state of Utah, has its own annual fundraising event: the Utah Human Race, held on Thanksgiving Day since 2005.

The race, whose motto is “Run with an attitude of gratitude,” has become a tradition for many families in Utah, says spokesperson Heidi Cannella. “We typically have approximately 6,000 people joining us every year on Thanksgiving morning.”

The Utah Human Race has a stroller division, too, so it’s open to participants of all ages and abilities, adds Cannella.

Utah Food Bank is a member of the Feeding America network, the largest charitable hunger-relief organization in the United States. In 2014, Utah Food Bank distributed over 37.5 million pounds of food — the equivalent of more than 31 million meals.

Everyone has a role to play in fighting hunger, Cannella explains. That’s why Utah Food Bank welcomes the efforts of kids as well as adults.

Students under age 12 can decorate food boxes that are delivered to home-bound and elderly clients, while “older students contribute to all of our volunteer opportunities and projects: assembling food boxes, delivering prepared food boxes, repackaging bulk food that has been donated, or any number of other projects, as needed.”

Lending a hand, at Thanksgiving and year-round, is hugely rewarding, says Cannella: “Witnessing the outpouring of generosity from our community, every single day, makes you realize just how important [this] work is.”