Durham Rescue Mission preparing for big day of Thanksgiving

Volunteers were helping grill more than 70 turkeys and 30 hams for Thanksgiving. It takes time to grill a turkey. That is why there are ten grills here that will be going through the night.

After a brief tutorial, it was all hands on deck on Wednesday. Volunteers jumped into action cleaning turkeys, making stuffing and getting the grill hot.

At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, 70 turkeys were rubbed down with seasoning in preparation of going on the grills at 7 p.m. All this work is for the Durham Rescue Mission’s 45th annual Thanksgiving Community Dinner and Meals on Wheels.

"It feels great," said one volunteer. "It energizes me and makes me want to do more."

"We will have turkey, dressing, corn, beans, gravy, rolls and lots of desert," another volunteer said.

Hundreds of volunteers were scheduled to work in staggered shifts, people like Raymond Ellis.

"God has blessed me so I want to give back," Ellis said.

We wanted to know what it takes to get to put this annual feast together, like how much planning and preparation is needed.

"It started over a month ago with getting the volunteers," said Tony Gooch, who is organizing part of the event. "We have over 500 between (Wednesday) and (Thursday)."

The meal begins at noon. There will be prizes, giveaways and a bag of groceries will be given to each family.

"It says a lot of people in this area do care to give back and pay it forward, that's what it says," Gooch said.

Every Thanksgiving, Meals on Wheels takes the day off for Thanksgiving. The rescue mission will pick up the Meals on Wheels route and start delivering meals at 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving.