NEW ORLEANS -- NOPD officers are trained to protect and serve, but on the day before Thanksgiving, it was all about serving.
A group of off-duty New Orleans police officers showed up at the Keller apartment complex in Mid-City with a police cruiser full of food to prepare a special meal for residents of the transitional housing facility.
"I was up all night preparing," Fourth District Officer Chantell Howard said.
Howard got some of her co-workers together to cook the dinner and feed it to dozens of people in need.
"We tend to forget that they have people out there who aren't able to provide for themselves, unable to prepare meals for themselves," Howard said.
There was plenty of turkey, chicken, stuffing, macaroni and cheese and an assortment of desserts; everything you need for a Thanksgiving feast.
Residents appreciated the outpouring of generosity.
"They did a meal," Delores Clark said. "You sit with your neighbors and you enjoy each other."
"The whole New Orleans is doing something for Thanksgiving," Robert Terry said. "That's why I love New Orleans so much."
Officer Howard and residents at the Keller complex said it's important for the NOPD to show a softer side to the community.
"It bridges that gap and let's the citizens know that we are human to," Howard said. "We are human and we are here to help."
"If they can help us in the community, they can also help people on the streets the same way," Terry said.
Officer Howard's Thanksgiving wish is for people to just get along.
"Come together," she said. "Come together and if someone's in need, help everyone out. That's what I wish. That's my Thanksgiving wish."