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11/24/2011 08:42 PM

Occupy Thanksgiving

By: John Wagner

The Occupy Poughkeepsie movement has been growing since it began as camping out in Hulme Park in the middle of October. Thursday, they gathered together with the community to give thanks. Our John Wagner has the story.

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POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- Shanon Murray's brother, parents, and son convened in Poughkeepsie to celebrate the holidays. But instead of a big meal with just their family, they joined to "Occupy Thanksgiving."

"Even though family is so important it's like looking at family in the bigger sense and that's what this movement about," said Murray. "It's looking out for one another, looking out for more than just your own."

Over 60 showed up in solidarity, including an informal group of supporters called the "Occupy Poughkeepsie Moms and Dads" who collaborate on a regular basis to make sure the movement gets fed.

"And so we cook food and bring a hot meal every night," explained Vonn New. "We try to make sure that everybody down here gets plenty of vegetables in their diet--and eat healthy."

"We all have to pitch in as a community to see what we can do to bring our community back together," said Nicole Kennedy, another member of the "Moms and Dads." "You know you can't always depend on the government or the powers that be to take care of you."

A variety of Occupy sympathizers dropped off turkey, Tofurkey, and more, resulting in quite a feast. And these Occupiers say despite failures in the global system, there's still a lot to be thankful for.

"I think the one beautiful thing about this with a leaderless, horizontal movement is that everyone has their own message and everyone's message is just as important as the next," said Echo Publius, a Poughkeepsie occupier since October 15th. "Doesn't matter how much you make, if you make anything, how tall you are," said Echo Publius, Poughkeepsie Occupier.

Close to twenty Occupiers sleep every night in Hulme Park, the regional hub of the Occupy movement, and larger general assemblies are held daily at noon and 7:00 p.m. Although no one person speaks for the movement, they all are demanding change.

"Capitalism in it's purest sense could work, we don't have that, what we have is a form of crony capitalism," said another Occupier, Paul Beykirch. "People who have money, get more money; people who are down at the bottom, are alienated."

But on Thanksgiving, the message is simple.

"We're all getting together," said Murray, "as a country and as a community to celebrate togetherness and gratitude."