Serving the community on Thanksgiving

Thursday is Thanksgiving Day and many throughout the metro are helping to serve meals to community members.

Union Gospel Mission Twin Cities will once again be making sure people in need will have a Thanksgiving meal.

The organization is serving a special holiday meal and is also delivering meals.

The traditional dinner will include turkey, stuffing, potatoes and cranberries, among other items.

This is a day that takes weeks of planning to pull off, but in the end, staff and volunteers say it’s so worth it.

Because of their work, 1,600 people will have a warm meal this Thanksgiving.

For volunteer Dottie Mau, this is a Thanksgiving tradition.

"I’ve been at Union Gospel on Thanksgiving for probably the past 6-10 years," Mau said.

She and her family have been serving on Thanksgiving for as long as she can remember.

For others, this starts a new tradition.

"This is my first time doing this," volunteer Justin Weldon said.

It’s been a hard six months for Weldon and he knew he wanted to give back.

"It was kind of a rough beginning of the year for me. I ended up… I lost my job," he said. "I just kind of viewed that as a sign to kind of change my life and maybe live a little less selfishly."

Volunteers were packing up and serving more than 1,600 meals to people in need.

"It is quite a process; our kitchen staff are incredible and have been working for the past week to get these food items cooked and prepped and ready to go," Abigal Holtz, events and community outreach coordinator with Union Gospel Mission Twin Cities, said.

The staff have prepared for weeks and spends hours organizing where everything needs to go.

Twenty different subsidized high rises throughout St. Paul will receive a full Thanksgiving dinner, along with anyone who shows up at the Mission.

"It’s about more than just the food," Mau said. "It’s about showing someone that you care. I’m hoping that it fills not only their stomachs but their hearts as well,"

The meal will be served at the organization’s Men’s Campus, located at 435 University Ave. E. in St. Paul from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

Staff members said none of this would be possible without volunteers and they’re always looking for more. Find more information about volunteering here.

There are a variety of events for those in need in the community taking place Thursday.

Find a full list of Thanksgiving events here.

Read KSTP’s complete Thanksgiving guide here.