TOLEDO, Ohio — The Compassion Toledo Church on Airport Highway is one of several places providing Thanksgiving food for the community this year.
For a list of where you can get a warm meal for free, click here.
Chaz Boes, a bishop at the church, said preparing and serving the food is akin to creating one very big family for a hearty Thanksgiving feast.
"We really need to break down the walls and add more chairs to our table," Boes said. "I don't look at the people that are going to come tomorrow as less fortunate, I look at them as family."
Cooks at Pilgrim Church on West Sylvania Avenue feel the same. Having served those in need of a home-cooked meal for nearly 18 years, they said the work fulfills an important need of the community.
"I believe they started it because they knew there was a need," Nikki Burkholder, who is in charge of making sure the food is hot and ready for Thanksgiving, said. "They could definitely tell the need in greater Toledo, especially in west Toledo."
With the help of volunteers, Burkholder said she made 19 turkeys.
Since Augsburg Lutheran Church, which was across the street from Pilgrim Church, Burkholder said they're expecting to feed even more people this year.
"When they closed it was a big hit on this community," she said.
She's happy being busy and trying to help fill the gap. Even though her own family may need her, Burkholder said the people at the church and in the area are her family too.
"Most of us live in the area," she said. "It's like helping your friends, family and neighbors."
Debby Bening is helping make 150 pounds of potatoes and said she feels the same because there's joy in being able to help her neighbors.
"We know that there's a lot of people in the community that don't have family," she said.