GREEN BAY (NBC26) - While many families celebrated the holidays in their homes, hundreds poured into Lambeau to share a special dinner.
"I like the tradition behind this,” said volunteer Cheryl Kraus. “Not only for our family because we've been volunteering; but as my husband has said, we've seen people who have chosen to come here, year after year after year. And so that makes me feel like they feel comfortable, welcome and included, and I just think it's really neat."
The dinner is an annual tradition. It’s part of Christian Outreach's Ecumenical Thanksgiving Dinner. This year, they served about 1,000 meals inside the atrium to families of all backgrounds. They also delivered 1,200 more meals to people within the community.
With more than 350 volunteers on hand for Thursday’s event, for volunteers like Cheryl and her husband Tom, they wouldn’t spend Thanksgiving any other way.
"It's great seeing the different type of people that come to volunteer,” Tom said. “There's retirees; there's young people; there's people that you'd think would make a lot of money and wouldn't want to give their time, but they do."
So whether you're watching at home or sharing turkey with a neighbor, there's one message the Kraus' hope people will take away from this Thanksgiving effort.
"Happy Thanksgiving!” Tom said. “Be grateful for everything you have. Be positive. There's so much going on in the world today. This is a great day to just be thankful for what you do have."