TOLEDO, Ohio — It's the time of year where people gather to give thanks and share a meal.
But not everyone has the luxury of this tradition - something two students from Whitmer wanted to change.
On Sunday, for the second year in a row the seniors were at the Frederick Douglass Center in central Toledo, handing out Thanksgiving baskets to those in need. Cars were lined up around the block for the event.
Whitmer senior, Carter Lowe, first began handing out the baskets last year.
He had bigger plans for this year however.
"We wanted to come out this year with a bigger product. Now we have the other stuff too, just coming out on a bigger scale, trying to help more people, trying to get the word out more, it's been really successful today so far," said Lowe.
Isaiah Holmes is the co-planner of the event.
"Having a nice meal at home will bring them joy and I just think that this is the least that we could do," said Holmes.
Together, the boys raised money and collected donations that went toward purchasing ham, turkey, and nonperishable items.
The food was later bagged up and handed out at the Frederick Douglass Center for those in need, at no cost.
It's something Latonya Lowe, Carter's mom, says she's proud of.
"Right now, so many people are out of jobs, laid off right now. I hope this helps. It seems like everybody is very very thankful and they're very nice. We've had a great crowd," said Lowe.
Lowe said the need in Toledo is great, and they wanted to help fulfill that.
"Just to encourage somebody, make someone smile and hopefully somebody has a great Thanksgiving because of us," said Carter. "There is always some person, you never know, that might need that extra step to keep going in life and hopefully this was theirs today."
Latonya said while the boys were helping to fill the community's stomach, she hopes the message of giving also gets through.
"I hope this sends the message that we can all help each other. We've all been down sometimes and there are people here that have senior citizens, they're bringing their grandparents and mothers up so I'm hoping this shows we can all share the love," said Latonya.
If you are in need of a Thanksgiving dinner this year, click here for a list of free meals in the area.
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