Protesters Occupy Thanksgiving

Volunteers handed out turkey dinners to thousands of Occupy protesters nationwide who continued to demonstrate against inequity on Thanksgiving.

Occupy Wall Street organizers in New York City distributed meals to demonstrators just outside Zuccotti Park to avoid breaking newly enforced rules against inhabiting the park, the New York Daily News reported.

"So many people have given up so much to come and be a part of the movement because there is really that much dire need for community," Megan Hayes, a chef and organizer with the Occupy Wall Street Kitchen in New York told The Associated Press. "We decided to take this holiday opportunity to provide just that — community." She said volunteers handed out 3,000 meals.

Sympathetic residents in Washington, DC, and Memphis, Tenn., dropped off turkey and trimmings for local protesters, CNN reported.

In Oakland, Calif., Occupy protesters dined outside City Hall with music and activist speakers, including Clyde Bellecourt, co-founder of the Minnesota-based American Indian Movement, the AP reported.

In Las Vegas, protesters organized a potluck Thanksgiving meal at their campsite near the University of Nevada, the AP reported. "Instead of hunkering down with five or six close individuals in your home, people you probably see all of the time anyway, you are celebrating Thanksgiving with many different families — kind of like the original Thanksgiving," Occupy Las Vegas organizer Sebring Frehner told the AP.