Thanksgiving Served Up on a Variety of Plates : Holiday: From fast-food restaurants to tables for the homeless, diners found places to eat and express gratitude.

As he stood outside the fast-food restaurant in Hollywood, Paul Jeans was busily scraping together the money he needed for a Thanksgiving dinner. He did it the only way he knew--panhandling customers as they left Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Forget the standard fare of roast turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie on this holiday of bountiful feasts, Jeans was only pitching for the few dollars needed to buy some fried chicken, french fries and a cup of cold water.

“The ones who are stuffing themselves on Thanksgiving are the ones who can afford to stuff themselves,” said the 44-year-old Jeans as he accepted a couple of quarters from a passerby.

“But I think the holiday is a pretty good thing,” added the goateed man who described himself as jobless and homeless. “People are getting together and everything, and if I had a home and family, I’d probably be doing that too.”

While many families spent Thanksgiving at home or restaurants gathered around tables laden with the traditional turkey spread, others spent Thursday’s holiday--like Jeans--at fast food restaurants dining on chicken, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, tacos and other less expensive fare.

Warren Akop, the manager of a Pioneer Chicken franchise in Hollywood, said customers often arrived after deciding not to cook a large meal at home. But at least half of his diners on Thanksgiving were probably doing so for economic reasons, he said.

Both convenience and cost--as well as a place for a birthday celebration--played a role in the selection of a McDonald’s restaurant near downtown Los Angeles for Celina Martinez and her three children. With her 6-month-old at her side, Martinez and her two older children were eating Big Macs, french fries and chocolate sundaes to celebrate not only Thanksgiving but her 28th birthday.

“Thanks to God that He gives us food,” she said in her native Spanish. “We’re grateful for this food or any food we can get.”

That gratitude was echoed throughout the Southland on a day when the focus was on food and giving thanks--especially by some diners who enjoyed the traditional turkey dinner because of special programs aimed at helping the homeless, the poor and the needy.

One of the largest food giveaways occurred in downtown Los Angeles where the Fred Jordan Mission and its army of volunteers distributed meals to 8,000 people who sat at open-air tables that stretched over a city block.

“This is a blessing indeed,” said Kenneth Dixon, 34, as he sat waiting for his meal of turkey, candied yams, mashed potatoes, cornbread and ice tea.

“I didn’t realize it was going to be Thanksgiving until last night,” added Dixon, who said he has been homeless for six months. “That’s how much I have become used to just living on the streets.”

At a nearby table, Urbano Ramirez and his wife, Maria Gonzalez, sat with their six children quietly savoring their dinner and ignoring the musical entertainment and the parade of preachers and others who spoke above the din.

“I couldn’t afford this food on my own. I make too little money,” said the Spanish-speaking Ramirez who works as a sewing-machine operator. Then, excusing himself, the T-shirted Ramirez gathered his family and packed their leftover food to take home.

Across the Southland, the scene was repeated.

The cooks at the Midnight Mission in downtown Los Angeles estimated that they served 1,500 meals. Workers at the United States Mission in Hollywood served 2,700 holiday meals, using 125 turkeys, 90 pounds of dressing, 400 pounds of ham, and 150 pounds of potatoes, according to director Pat Lenhoff.

Not all of the programs involved participants showing up for a free meal. The Meals-on-Wheels program, sponsored by Los Angeles City’s Department of Aging, delivered meals to a number of homebound elderly residents on Thanksgiving.

And 22,476 inmates in the Los Angles County Jail system celebrated the holidays with longer visiting hours for their families and friends--and the traditional holiday meal.

In all, inmates consumed 5,175 pounds of candied sweet potatoes, 3,000 pounds of cranberry sauce, 3,680 pounds of cornbread dressing and 6,900 pounds of roast turkey, plus pumpkin pie and coffee, according to sheriff’s officials.

The feast, a spokesman said, was directed as much at the hearts and minds as the stomachs of inmates.

“This type of meal we believe lifts the spirits of the inmates,” said Sheriff’s Deputy Bill Wehner, “and hopefully they will reflect on this day and attempt to improve their conditions for the holidays yet to come.”