Washington ( CNN ) -- President Obama wished the nation a happy Thanksgiving on Thursday and also used his weekly address to renew his call for bipartisan cooperation on addressing major issues facing the nation . In the remarks usually delivered on a Saturday , Obama said the first family will have the same kind of holiday experienced by millions of Americans -- filled with friends and relatives , good food and football . `` And just as folks have done in every Thanksgiving since the first , we 'll spend some time taking stock of what we 're thankful for : the God-given bounty of America and the blessings of one another , '' the president said . He called for Americans to think about those less fortunate and saluted the `` countless '' Americans serving their country and communities , from soldiers on guard around the world to volunteers at local soup kitchens and food pantries . On Wednesday , the first family spent an hour handing out Thanksgiving dinner packages to people at Martha 's Table , a local aid organization . Such service is `` emblematic of what Americans have always done , '' Obama said in his weekly address . `` We come together and do what 's required to make tomorrow better than today , '' he said . `` That 's who we are . '' That means supporting the nation 's soldiers and working together to help spur faster economic recovery from the recession , he said . `` But we wo n't do it as any one political party , '' he said . `` We 've got to do it as one people . And in the coming weeks and months , I hope that we can work together , Democrats and Republicans and independents alike , to make progress on these and other issues . '' Noting his scheduled meeting on Tuesday with congressional leaders from both parties , Obama said it was time for `` a real and honest discussion -- because I believe that if we stop talking at one another and start talking with one another , we can get a lot done . '' `` For what we are called to do again today is n't about Democrats or Republicans , '' he said . `` It 's not about left or right . It 's about us . It 's about what we know this country is capable of . It 's about what we want America to be in this new century . ''
The president uses his weekly address to wish Americans a happy Thanksgiving . Obama calls the holiday one of counting blessings and helping others . The first family helped distribute Thanksgiving food packages on Wednesday .