PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The Philadelphia Police Department is continuing its annual tradition of giving away Thanksgiving dinners to needy families.

Today, volunteers boxed up the packages and shipped them out.

It was “all hands on deck” outside police headquarters, at 7th and Race Streets, as street cops worked the assembly line alongside the top brass (below), led by Commissioner Charles Ramsey.

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(Credit: Paul Kurtz)

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“This is the fourth year I’ve been a part of it, but it’s been going on long before that,” says Ramsey, who was named Philadelphia police commissioner in 2008.  “But it’s just one way of helping to feed people who are less fortunate, by providing some good meals for Thanksgiving.  It’s a time for giving back.”

They’ve been doing this for 42 years. Community relations officer Dave Jones says members of the force  make donations throughout the year in order to pay for the frozen turkeys, potatoes, bread, canned string beans, and cranberry sauce.

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(Boxed turkey dinners are placed in a police van for distribution to needy families. Credit: Paul Kurtz)

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“This year we’re doing 500 baskets that we’re sending out to persons that have been selected by the district community relations officers,” Jones said.

Reported by Paul Kurtz, KYW Newsradio 1060