BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) -
Hundreds lined up outside in downtown Baton Rouge at St. Vincent De Paul. While inside, nearly 150 volunteers prepared to make Thanksgiving Day special for so many.
Then promptly at 11:30am, the doors opened. With a quick prayer by Bishop Robert Muench, turkey was served thanks to so many donors.
"About 90% of it is donated. The congregation of B'Nai donated all the turkeys. We had several other individuals and companies donate turkeys," said St. Vincent De Paul's Michael Acaldo.
This is the 30th year St. Vincent De Paul has been feeding the needy. On this Thanksgiving Day, they plan to feed 600 people.
While for some, this is the first time they're spending Thanksgiving with the St. Vincent De Paul family. For others, it's a tradition.
"I've been living in Baton Rouge since 1983, and I've been coming here for dinner since 1983," said Josephine Jackson.
The same goes for the volunteers, with some keeping with a tradition.
"This is my family this time of year. My family is in New York so I've been coming here 12 years now," said volunteer Carol Stack.
While serving is how so many of these volunteers give back, many of these people are beyond grateful for this meal.
"I'm thankful they're feeding us. They do their best, they really do," said Rider.
St. Vincent De Paul has already topped last year's number of meals served: 240,000.
Copyright 2012 WAFB. All rights reserved.
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and WTVM, a Raycom Media Station.
