AUSTIN — 1,000 Austin area families will now be able to have Thanksgiving Day meals.
This is after dozens of volunteers handed out turkey dinners at El Buen Samaritano in South Austin on Saturday.
Area Episcopal schools raised money and held food drives before Saturday's event. Around 1,000 families, or 4,000 people in need, pre-registered to receive the packaged meals.
Debbie Del Valle, the Chief Program Officer, said El Buen Samaritano has been around for years helping the Latino community.
"We have to be united in helping our communities and keep the kindness during these very difficult times and keep giving families hope things will soon improve," said Del Valle.
But the mission also helps other members of the community as well.
"It's a community-oriented program, you see all kinds of people and it just brings us all together. I think it's wonderful that they can put on a program like this that they can provide for so many people in need," said Wanda Dulandy.
Dulandy isn't Latino but has medical issues that make traveling hard for her. She said she would have been able to have a Thanksgiving meal with the meal El Buen Samaritano handed out on Saturday but it would have been much harder.
"But it wouldn't be as plentiful because I'm on a fixed income and I'm real prudent when it comes to spending, so any time these types of events come up I want to try to be involved," said Dulandy.
For 27 years, this Hands for Hope community event has provided a full-course meal for families. This year, donations were matched by a grant provided by the Moody Foundation.