Lending a hand to people in need has actually been an ongoing tradition in Hollywood for years ... as we've seen some very famous faces recently demonstrate their generosity.

Take, for example, Denzel Washington ... who, just a few years ago, went out of his way to help an unsheltered man on the streets of L.A., this at the height of the pandemic in May 2020.

This gentleman was apparently having an episode in West Hollywood, and Denzel came over to comfort him as police eventually arrived and got a handle on things. Even while officers were talking to the man, DW stuck around and provided him comfort. It was quite something.

A year prior, Lil Pump was doing his own food giveaway just in time for the holidays ... handing out tons of corndogs to folks who were on the street and hungry.

BTW ... Pump was doing this on Skid Row in DTLA -- one of the most heavily populated areas for unhoused folks in the city.

Jeremy Renner, too, has proven to have a charitable spirit ... he once took his daughter with him to hand out jackets, blankets and food to homeless people in Reno, NV.

At the time, JR did this right around Thanksgiving -- setting a good example for his kid.

Speaking of Turkey Day ... it's become a little bit of a give-back pastime over the years for celebs to team up with the L.A. Mission to dish out hot meals to the needy. There've been several stars who've partaken in this ... Danny Trejo, Emmy Rossum, Kevin Hart and Lisa Rinna, just to name a few.

There's even been some community service from controversial A-listers, like Kanye West.

Before he was persona non grata in Hollywood -- as a result of antisemitic remarks he spewed last year -- the dude was prominently kind to people less fortunate.

There's that memorable time he was handing out cash and Yeezys to one homeless man, in particular, in his own home city of Chicago -- back before he and Adidas split up -- and you could tell it meant a lot to this fella that he was gifting them for free.