Good food and good fellowship were being served on Thanksgiving Day at Applebees in Salina. The only thing on the menu was turkey and all the trimmings at the Salina Salvation Army Community Thanksgiving Dinner.

Debbie Andrews of Salina has coordinated the volunteers for the event for last fourteen years. She tells KSAL News that it wouldn’t be possible to pull it off without all of the volunteer help. Several organizations are instrumental in the effort including Applebees, the Salina Country Club, and the GL Huyett company of Minneapolis.

Andrews says that volunteers began contacting her back in September offering to help with the event. Volunteers ranged from school-aged children to senior citizens.

Roxanne Matous from the Salina Salvation Army tells KSAL News that along with preparing enough food to feed 1,000 people at the restaurant they also delivered another 150 meals.

People begin lining up outside at around 10:00 in the morning, a full two hours before the doors were scheduled to open. The volunteers inside, and the food, were ready to go so they opened the doors about 20 minutes early.

As the restaurant began to fill with hungry people, it also filled with smiles and good cheer.