HOUSTON – Many people worked together to help feed thousands of people in the Greater Houston community for the Thanksgiving holiday.
City Wide Club's Stephanie Lewis spent Tuesday preparing for the biggest Thanksgiving feast in Houston.
"We're prepared to serve over 20,000 people," Lewis said. "This is food off of one truck that was just unloaded."
Lewis pointed to a stack of food piling up in a room at their office on Elgin.
"We had to prepare the meal. It's not prepackaged anything. It's a meal that anybody would enjoy," Lewis said ahead of the feast.
The feast included a full meal with turkey and all the sides and fixings, and it took an army of volunteers to make it happen.
Leland Simmons has been volunteering for four years and says it takes a lot of work to get everything ready for the Super Feast.
“It takes about two days of preparation,” Simmons said. “A lot of volunteers coming in … to help out with the food prep for the two days that we’re here. There’s a lot of people out there that need help … and from the goodness of my heart I’m just here.”
Another volunteer told KPRC2 he and his two sons started volunteering as a way to help the community and for his sons to earn volunteer hours for school, but now it’s turned into a nine-year family tradition.
Clothing, food, medical and dental services for those in need were also provided at the event.
"So many of Houston's neighbors were devastated by Harvey. People who used to volunteer are coming to eat," said Tomaro Bell, the MacGregor Super Neighborhood chair who works with City Wide Club.
The Super Feast was at the George R. Brown Convention Center, It started at 10 a.m.
"This makes a difference, especially for the little ones," Bell said.
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Preparations for Thanksgiving feast at Gallery Furniture on North Fwy Thursday from 11-2pm! Story at 5 & 6 KPRC2 / Click2Houston
Posted by KPRC2 Rose-Ann Aragon on Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Meanwhile, Jim McIngvale, or "Mattress Mack," spent all day Tuesday working on preparations for a free Thanksgiving Day lunch at the North Freeway location Thursday.
Similar to last year, the community feast included eight food trucks (four with Thanksgiving food and four with non-traditional Thanksgiving meals), 35 turkeys totaling about 500-600 pounds, 40 hams totaling about 600-700 pounds, along with sides such as macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, candied yams and mashed potatoes and gravy.
Each table had colorful, artistic placemats made and donated by the children of the Humble Independent School District. This year’s lunch attracted at least 5,000 people.
“The essence of living is giving,” McIngvale said. “This Thanksgiving, I couldn’t be more excited to see our community take advantage of this chance to come together and give thanks for all the blessings we have each day.”