He’s thankful for his blessings! Aaron Carter has had a pretty rough year, but now that the holiday season is here, he’s putting all the negativity in the past and is focusing on giving back to those less fortunate. The troubled pop star made a rare public appearance for the first time since announcing that he was going back to rehab, and he spent his Thanksgiving preparing meals for the LA-based charity Project Angel Food.

Aaron looked happy and healthy in a handful of Instagram photos, in which he donned a Project Angel Food hat and chef apron while he chopped onions and sealed containers for the Thanksgiving meals. “Today, I’m thankful to be able to give back to [Project Angel Food] Happy Thanksgiving to all my fans!” the 29-year-old wrote in the caption and suggested that fans could donate to the charity.

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Project Angel Food focuses on providing healthy, nutritious meals to people who are sick and homebound with critical illnesses — and Aaron wasn’t the only celebrity who showed up to give back! He was joined by actress Charo, Bones star Sara Rue, and comedian Hal Sparks. Aaron took some time to give fans them advice for the for enjoying the holiday season

“Find thanks in everything you can around you because some of us are spending Thanksgiving maybe without loved ones,” he told local news TV station KTLA. “Also just try to look around and find inspiration and hope and be thankful for whatever it is that you can be.”

Back in September, Aaron revealed that he was re-entering rehab to “improve his health and work on his overall wellness,” his rep revealed in a statement. Now it seems like the program is working and Aaron has shown off his weight gain as a result of his progress, and he also revealed that he’s currently in the studio working on new music, which will be released soon.