CINCINNATI — St. Vincent de Paul gave 1,000 local families a turkey and all the fixings to enjoy a hot Thanksgiving meal.
People stood in long lines as early as 5 a.m. for the nonprofit's annual Thanksgiving giveaway at the Don & Phyllis Neyer Outreach Center.
Once doors opened at 9 a.m., families were able to get a meal kit with turkey, vegetables and canned trimmings.
"Cincinnati stepped up, it's just amazing to see the number of volunteers we have here to serve about 1,000 neighbors," said Brad McMonigle, chief executive officer at St. Vincent de Paul.
McMonigle said it's all about neighbors helping neighbors.
"There's a lot of our neighbors really having harder struggles right now around rent and utilities," said Kaytlynd Lainhart.
This giveaway is one of the largest of the year with all hands on deck. This year St. Vincent de Paul had 100 volunteers.
"We're here at St. Vincent de Paul to make sure we will be able to help on all sides, so that's food today, making sure they have a Thanksgiving meal but we're here for them, whether that means rent and utility assistance or food from our pantry, we just want to help," Lainhart said.
She and McMonigle hope this helps others give thanks this holiday season.
"Just provide a little hope during this season and that's something we're very grateful to do here today," McMonigle said.
St. Vincent de Paul is one of several local groups looking to be the solution for families in need this Thanksgiving.
200 additional free Thanksgiving kits were delivered to families that couldn't leave their homes. Cindy Givens has volunteered for the distribution for 20 years. She serves coffee and said this event is something they have always done to make people feel special.
"It's important to me that we treat them as neighbors, not as clients, or anything else, but as guests and neighbors so that's what brings me back, interacting with my neighbors," Givens said.
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