It took 120 turkeys, 280 gallons of cranberry sauce, a 1,000 pounds of peeled and mashed potatoes, 580 pounds of mixed vegetables, 500 gallons of gravy, and hundreds of pies to make Thanksgiving dinner for the thousands gathered who gathered for a feast at the Pine Street Inn.

The annual event draws community leaders and celebrities alike to lend a hand, and provides a traditional Thanksgiving meal for 2,000 people who otherwise do not have a place to go, Pine Street President and Executive Director Lyndia Downie said.

The meal is also a yearly reminder that, for some, the holiday season’s arrival cannot be met with celebration.

“It’s a really bittersweet day here, especially in the shelter,” Downie said.

For the millions of Americans gathering with family across the country, and the 940 people the Pine Street Inn has helped into housing, Downie said, this season should be something to celebrate: a roof over their heads and a place to make their dinner alongside loved ones.

“But I would say though, if you’re in a shelter, it’s really really hard,” she said. “Everybody is home, everybody is talking about being with family, being with friends. But if you’re here, that’s not your situation, you’re by yourself and you’re really feeling it. So it’s a very very hard day, it’s an emotional day.”

Complicating matters for those without shelter, Downie said, are the Bay State’s tight housing market and the at-capacity condition of its Emergency Assistance shelter system. Even people with the benefit of income don’t necessarily have the means to put a roof over their heads, she said.

A Pine Street Inn spokesperson said the influx of unhoused migrants into Massachusetts is part of the problem, but so too are high rents pushing senior citizens and low income families out of their apartments. The housing crisis is worse this year than it has been in the past, he said.

According to data provided by the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, the state’s shelter system remains near its 7,500 family capacity. Massachusetts is alone among the 50 states in guaranteeing a right to shelter for pregnant women and families with small children.

Boston Bruins Defenseman Charlie McAvoy arrived at the Pine Street Inn before 10 a.m. with a turkey-shaped hat on and, as he is known to, with dozens of pies in hand. He then joined Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, City Council President Ed Flynn, State Rep. John Moran, and City Councilor-elect John Fitzgerald in carving turkeys for the day’s upcoming meals.

“It’s something we’ve done for a couple of years now, and a few seasons before that. We always have a great time and it’s an opportunity to give back, so it’s important to me,” McAvoy said.

Pine Street Inn Vice President Barbara Trevisan said that each year, for her, the event is a reminder of how close to homelessness many people are.

“You look at people and you think, that could be me. It could be anyone of us. And you hear some of the stories of why people wind up here and it’s everything you could imagine and things you can’t imagine,” she said. “Everything from people who grew up in poverty, who grew up and never had much of a chance, to people who…we’ve had engineers, we’ve had college professors.”

When you feed thousands of people, who for whatever reason don’t have any where else to go or anyone else to sit beside, “you realize we’re all kind of bound by a shared humanity,” she said.