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VP Harris, family members help DC nonprofit with Thanksgiving meals

Vice President Kamala Harris, right, and her grand-niece Leela Ajagu, left, celebrate Thanksgiving Day by helping to prepare vegetables at the DC Central Kitchen in Washington Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Vice President Kamala Harris, right, and her grandniece Leela Ajagu, left, celebrate Thanksgiving Day by helping to prepare vegetables at the DC Central Kitchen in Washington Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Vice President Kamala Harris celebrates Thanksgiving Day by helping to prepare vegetables at the DC Central Kitchen in Washington Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Vice President Kamala Harris celebrates Thanksgiving Day by helping to prepare vegetables at the DC Central Kitchen in Washington Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Vice President Kamala Harris, center-right, her grand-nieces Leela Ajagu, center-left, and Amara Ajagu, left, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, right, celebrate Thanksgiving Day by helping to prepare vegetables at the DC Central Kitchen in Washington Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Vice President Kamala Harris, center-right, her grandnieces Leela Ajagu, center-left, and Amara Ajagu, left, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, right, celebrate Thanksgiving Day by helping to prepare vegetables at the DC Central Kitchen in Washington Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Vice President Kamala Harris, center-right, her grand-nieces Leela Ajagu, center-left, and Amara Ajagu, left, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, right, celebrate Thanksgiving Day by helping to prepare vegetables at the DC Central Kitchen in Washington Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Vice President Kamala Harris, center-right, her grandnieces Leela Ajagu, center-left, and Amara Ajagu, left, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, right, celebrate Thanksgiving Day by helping to prepare vegetables at the DC Central Kitchen in Washington Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
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Vice President Kamala Harris, right, and her grand-niece Leela Ajagu, left, celebrate Thanksgiving Day by helping to prepare vegetables at the DC Central Kitchen in Washington Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Vice President Kamala Harris celebrates Thanksgiving Day by helping to prepare vegetables at the DC Central Kitchen in Washington Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Vice President Kamala Harris, center-right, her grand-nieces Leela Ajagu, center-left, and Amara Ajagu, left, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, right, celebrate Thanksgiving Day by helping to prepare vegetables at the DC Central Kitchen in Washington Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Vice President Kamala Harris, center-right, her grand-nieces Leela Ajagu, center-left, and Amara Ajagu, left, and second gentleman Doug Emhoff, right, celebrate Thanksgiving Day by helping to prepare vegetables at the DC Central Kitchen in Washington Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Vice President Kamala Harris brought her husband Doug Emhoff and members of the second family to prepare charity meals with D.C. Central Kitchen.

Harris and her family donned black D.C. Central Kitchen aprons, washed their hands and put on gloves Thursday afternoon, before prepping fresh produce to cook and serve. She also joked with reporters and kitchen staff as she listed her own menu plans for a big Thanksgiving dinner with “lots of carbs.”

“Turkey, making ham, my famous cornmeal stuffing … I’m making sweet potatoes — you’re helping, we’re all having hand in that,” Harris said to family members as they prepped collard greens at the kitchen.

Her appearance on Thursday was a much-needed assist for Central Kitchen staff as they looked to meet a record need of 69,000 Thanksgiving meals this week.

“This is double our Thanksgiving output for last year’s record efforts,” chief development officer Alexander Moore told WTOP.

D.C. Central Kitchen is known for its work helping feed those in need across the region. The organization’s decision to move to a new facility in Southwest allowed the group to get more donations, food and opportunities to partner with others in the community, CEO Michael Curtin explained to Harris and Emhoff.

“We moved in here a year and a half ago,” Curtin said. “This has been dancing in my head for over a decade.”

But the work that’s left to do for the roughly 38% of food insecure D.C. residents didn’t end Thursday, Moore said.

“Come in January when that year-end, sort of holiday rush is over, and we really need those extra hands,” he told WTOP. “We’re open everyday, but we need 60 to 90 volunteers everyday to keep pace.”

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Ivy Lyons

Ivy Lyons is a digital journalist for WTOP.com. Since 2018, they have worked on Capitol Hill, at NBC Ƶ in Washington, and with WJLA in Washington.

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