GREENFIELD — Organizers looked to ensure no one would be alone on Thanksgiving, banding together to host large community meals — as well as historically educational programming about Indigenous tribes’ relationship to the day — throughout the afternoon.

One of the places where free meals were served was Living Waters Assembly of God at 450 Davis St. The church also delivered meals to Greenfield residents who were unable to come in person.

“We feel the church should be here for the community,” said meal organizer Keila Santana.

This is the church’s eighth year serving free meals on Thanksgiving. Living Waters also often serves a soup kitchen-style lunch once a week that is open to the public, but that program is on pause with plans to start again in early spring.

Santana said she originally decided to organize the Thanksgiving meal because she found many people find themselves alone on the holiday, and the church hopes to be there for people.

The pay-what-you-can cafe that operates out of All Souls Church at 399 Main St. also stepped up to bring people together for the holiday, while simultaneously educating people about Native American history.

Stone Soup Café celebrated the holiday by hosting “A Day of Mourning and Thanks Giving,” recognizing and honoring Indigenous people. Stone Soup Café Executive Director and Chef Kirsten Levitt said the cafe paused meal preparations at noon to stream the National Day of Mourning as a way to “stand in solidarity” with the millions of Indigenous people who have been “marginalized” throughout history.

“Thanksgiving is this really fascinating holiday … because for Indigenous people, it’s a day of mourning and remembrance of a genocide, and for the colonists, or descendants of the colonists, it’s become something very different,” Levitt explained this week.

The National Day of Mourning, hosted annually in Plymouth since 1970, recognizes the genocide and suffering of Native people in America and beyond.

The event started in 1970 when Frank “Wamsutta” James, a Wampanoag elder and activist, was uninvited from speaking at a Massachusetts Thanksgiving celebration commemorating the 350th anniversary of the Mayflower landing in America after organizers screened his remarks and found they referenced atrocities committed against Indigenous peoples. Instead of altering his speech, James gave a speech on Cole’s Hill overlooking Plymouth Bay, during which he described Native perspectives on Thanksgiving. Since then, the event has been held annually. It is organized by the United American Indians of New England (UAINE).

The livestream included a speech by James’ granddaughter Kisha James and other speeches recounting the history and current treatment of Indigenous people.

“We are determined and our presence here is living testimony that this is only the beginning of the American Indian, particularly the Wampanoag, to gain a position in this country that is rightfully ours,” Kisha James said.

“It is important for our organization to show solidarity with Indigenous folks and honor the complexity of the holiday,” said Stone Soup Café Board President Whitney Robbins. “The best way is to amplify Indigenous voices and pause our service.”

This is the second year Stone Soup Café hosted the livestream in the church sanctuary with the holiday meal. Volunteers also gave out a “Rethinking Thanksgiving” pamphlet with each meal explaining the complexities of the holiday.

“Yes, the holiday is built on a lot of lies,” Robbins continued. “Yet it is still important to come together and care for each other, especially on holidays when vulnerable folks feel more vulnerable.”

Reach Bella Levavi at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com.