For veterans, the pre-Thanksgiving turkey in Sayville means “thank you.”

When Ingrid Alexander returned home from the war in Afghanistan in 2002, she couldn’t afford housing. After four years in the U.S. Navy, finishing in the Persian Gulf with the Red Rippers fighter squadron, she couchsurfed with relatives in Brooklyn, working two jobs to make ends meet while she attended school.

“I had to go to the gym just to shower,” said Alexander, who now lives in Yaphank and works for the state Department of Veterans Affairs in Northport.

On Sunday, Alexander, 46, joined several hundred other veterans and their families in Sayville to receive a pre-Thanksgiving token of military appreciation: a free turkey from the Community Ambulance Company, which sponsored the event at its headquarters, with help from a number of other businesses and agencies

Parents of fallen service members, high school students and other volunteers lined an assembly line with hand warmers early Sunday morning to hand out 330 turkeys, stuffing, corn and mashed potatoes.

The annual event includes the distribution of “free 10-14 pound turkeys as a token of gratitude in honor of the unwavering service of military and veteran families,” according to a post on the ambulance company’s website.

The idea came about when volunteer EMS worker Jamie Atkinson, 25, was running a summer food drive at a food pantry in Sayville.

“We’ve noticed a lot of veterans coming in for food,” Atkinson said Sunday. “So we figured they probably had problems during the holidays, too.”

Stephen Castleton, 68, a volunteer who spent much of his time directing traffic in and out of the parking lot, said current and former military personnel, including two of his three children, have left the state because of the high cost of living.

According to the data, more than 800,000 residents have left New York since 2020, the most of any state as a share of the population, citing concerns about “affordability” and non-economic reasons such as a desire to be near family or reduced daily commutes. job, according to a Newsday article in September.

“You don’t join the military to get rich, but you want to be able to put food on your table,” Castleton said. “Veterans are leaving New York in droves because they can’t afford to live here. It’s unconscionable.”

The volunteer ambulance company split the cost of the turkeys with Suffolk Credit Union, Wayward Kitchen & Cocktails, Northwell Health and Dash Simplified Solutions, Atkinson said.

After that, in the parking lot, Alexander loaded the turkey into her car.

She works with veterans on Long Island as a benefits consultant for the state Department of Veterans Affairs.

It’s a demanding job, so helping out during the holiday season as well as being recognized for military service decades later made Sunday special.

“Sometimes I’m so busy that I don’t even have time to go to the grocery store… It means a lot to me.”