NEW YORK – The owner of a Turkish restaurant offered a free Thanksgiving meal to New York’s homeless, giving them a chance to mark the special day with dignity.

“It is not important which religion we believe in, which country we came from or the color of our skins,” Ali Rıza Doğan said in a speech before dinner to his guests, Daily Sabah reported on Thursday.

“We are all human beings, and you are my family.”

Doğan, the owner of Ali Baba Terrace hosted a special dinner for the homeless on Wednesday.

The restaurant teamed up with the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the Muslim Officers Society to host the event, themed, “No one should be hungry or alone on Thanksgiving Day.”

The dinner took place at a park in Manhattan and the food, first prepared at the Turkish restaurant, adorned the Thanksgiving table.

Thanksgiving is a celebration observed on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and the second Monday of October in Canada. The celebration is about giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year.

Though it started as a Christian tradition, the current form of celebration is a cultural holiday observed by people of all faiths.