Oakland Black Firefighters Association holds annual holiday giveaway

OAKLAND, Calif. - The Oakland Black Firefighters Association held its annual holiday food basket giveaway on Saturday.

Volunteers arrived at the Allen Temple Baptist Church bright and early at 8 a.m. to pack bags with food for local families in need.

One firefighter says "It feels good to provide some hands-on support for the community."

Organizers say they got a lot of support this year and shared what they plan to do with leftover donations. 

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"We usually go until 2 p.m.…With our great and super helpful volunteers, we were able to pass out around 1,200 holiday food baskets to the community. We got done super early," said Lt. Kai Pagani. "Right here we have some donations that are going to be given to the Oakland Housing Authority. Just super grateful to be able to give back to the community members."

Each food basket was prepared for feeding a four-person family. They were filled with canned and dry goods as well as a whole turkey or whole chicken.